Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family Plan revealed, but there’s a catch

Microsoft has unveiled a Friends & Family Plan for its much-loved Xbox Game Pass service, but it comes with a pretty substantial caveat for now.

Xbox Games Pass is already one of the best deals on offer to gamers, providing them with hundreds of top-tier titles for a fixed monthly fee. Being able to play Halo, Fallout, and Gears of War all in one place is tough to turn down, and millions of players have subscribed since its launch in 2017.

Now, Microsoft is expanding the service with a new Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan, allowing subscribers to share their membership with up to four others.

These extra players must all live in the same country to be eligible, but they will receive the full slate of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefits; from the whole Game Pass library of titles and EA Play, to online play and discounts with Xbox Live Gold.

Microsoft reveal Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family Plan

While the ability to share a membership among friends will be appealing to many gamers, the downside is that this service is currently only available in Colombia and Ireland. Microsft has been testing the feature with those in the Xbox Insider program, but has now branched out to all players in those two regions.

In a statement on the service’s FAQ page, Microsoft said: “With the Friends & Family plan, all five members enjoy the benefits of Game Pass Ultimate, with their own unique access to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits, regardless of what device they play on.

“All the people you invite can play at the same time – you can even play together in the same game. Plus, you can include friends and family outside your household.”

In Ireland, the Family & Friends Plan will cost €21.99, which equates to around $24.99. This is a big jump from the $14.99 of a regular Game Pass Ultimate subscription, but when you consider that it most likely be split between up to five others, it’s actually a nice saving.

There’s no word just on when the Game Pass Family & Friends Plan will roll out in other regions, but if the trial goes well in Ireland and Columbia, it shouldn’t be long before it arrives elsewhere.

In the meantime, check out the titles expected to arrive on Game Pass in October.