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For months, Microsoft has tested a new version of Xbox Game Pass that allowed members to share their Game Pass Ultimate benefits with up to five people in a friends-and-family-style plan. After a period of testing, Microsoft has decided to end the test preview–but the plan could return one day.
A spokesperson told Eurogamer that the company was “excited about” how this Friends and Family plan, as it was called, resonated with fans. The company is now going to evaluate the test to help create “an offer that we can bring to more players worldwide in the future.”
The Friends and Family plan for Game Pass ends its trial on August 15. Anyone in the program at that time will get an “Xbox Game Pass offer” as a thank you for participating.
“All active members of the Friends and Family plan will receive an Xbox Game Pass offer as a thank you for participating and a way to ensure they can continue to play the games they love after the preview ends,” Microsoft said.
The Xbox Store page for the Friends and Family Game Pass membership is still up, but it doesn’t allow new subscribers. For about $10 more than the standard price, the Friends and Family plan represented a very good deal. It remains to be seen what the price might be if and when the plan returns one day.
The Friends and Family plan allowed a Game Pass subscriber share benefits with up to four family members and friends. Each user had a personalized account with their own achievements, saves, and more. Additionally, users were allowed to play at the same time with no limitations.
In case you’ve yet to subscribe, Xbox Game Pass is one of the best deals in gaming. The monthly subscription grants access to a wide variety of new games each month, day-one releases for Xbox exclusives, and plenty of titles from the EA Play library. If the Activision Blizzard deal is approved, Microsoft also intends to add games such as Overwatch, Diablo, and Call of Duty to its library.
Microsoft just recently raised the price of Game Pass to $11/month for the standard offering and $17/month for Game Pass Ultimate.
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