Microsoft starts testing an Xbox Game Pass family plan

Microsoft is starting to test an Xbox Game Pass family plan that will allow subscribers to share their benefits with other people. A preview of this Xbox Game Pass family plan is available in Colombia and Ireland today, and testers will be able to add up to four people to their subscription as long as they’re in the same country.

“Starting today in Colombia and Ireland, Xbox Insiders can begin to preview a plan that allows multiple people to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits,” explains Tyler Mittleider, a senior technical program manager at Microsoft. “This makes it even easier to play the best Game Pass games with friends and family across console, PC, and cloud by enabling you to add up to four people to your subscription, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits.”

Microsoft had been rumored to be contemplating a family plan for Xbox Game Pass for quite some time, and this preview shows it’s getting ready to test how Xbox Game Pass Ultimate sharing would work more broadly.

Microsoft currently offers Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass for $9.99 per month. Neither includes online multiplayer capabilities, but you can upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $14.99, and this unlocks Game Pass for console, PC, EA Play access, and online multiplayer.

Testers in Colombia or Ireland can sign up for an Xbox Insider preview for the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan today in the Microsoft Store, and joining the preview will convert existing time remaining on a plan to a new plan “based upon the monetary value of the old membership.” So if you have a full month of Ultimate, it will be converted to 18 days of membership on this new plan, which suggests that Microsoft will offer a separate tier once Game Pass sharing is fully ready for a broader launch.