Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan expands to six more countries
Previously limited to Ireland and Colombia.
Microsoft has added six more countries to its Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan roll-out, meaning the account sharing service is now available across eight countries.
Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family - which launched as a limited "preview" last September after months of speculation and rumours - gives up to five people access to all Game Pass Ultimate benefits at a significant discount compared to individual memberships.
For its initial pilot, the service was limited to Colombia and the Republic of Ireland but Microsoft confirmed more counties could be added to that meagre list in the "next months". True to its word, the company has now expanded the plan's availability into Chile, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sweden starting today.
As before, all those signed up to the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan can take full advantage of Game Pass Ultimate's features - including cloud streaming, EA Play membership, and discounts on the Game Pass library - but the same limitations remain in place. That means only people living in the same country/region as the main account holder can be added to a Friends & Family plan, and members can only be part of one group at a time.
As detailed in Microsoft's announcement, anyone eager to sign up will also need to bear a few things in mind; firstly, those invited to join a group won't be able to convert their existing Game Pass membership, meaning they'll first need to either cancel it or wait for it to expire. However, the main account holder can convert their existing Game Pass subscription before inviting others in, and any time remaining will be carried over to the new plan based on the monetary value of the old membership.
Microsoft gave no hints at when Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family might expand again in today's announcement, but hopefully those in other countries will be able to get involved soon.