Written by Samah Labib
Thursday, February 23, 2023 06:00 AM
Microsoft has expanded its Xbox Game Pass family plan to six more countries, and people in Chile, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden can now sign up for a membership that allows up to five friends and family members in the same country to access Game Pass Ultimate features through a single subscription. This is the first expansion for the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan, which Microsoft debuted in Colombia and Ireland last summer.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re located in one of those countries and you’re interested in the plan, which offers access to a library of hundreds of PC, console, and cloud games and has other benefits. The primary account holder will be able to convert their existing plan based on the monetary value of time. Remaining and a full month of Ultimate subscription equals 18 days of friends and family access to Xbox Game Pass, for example.
However, people who are invited to join a group cannot transfer remaining time for Game Pass. Those with an Xbox All Access payment plan can’t join a Friends and Family group.
Pricing varies by country. A good rule of thumb is that based on conversion rates, a regular subscription to Game Pass Ultimate costs about three-fifths of the cost of a family plan. Looking at US Game Pass Ultimate pricing, a family plan costs the equivalent of $25 per month. Divide that amount between five. People, and that’s just $5 per month per person to get access to Game Pass Ultimate — the same price as buying one full game each year.
And there’s no indication that the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan will reach North America, the UK, or anywhere else on a larger scale yet. However Microsoft is clearly interested in getting as many people as possible to sign up for Game Pass one way or another, so the plan is likely to expand to more regions in the future.