Xbox is testing a Game Pass Ultimate ‘family plan’

Up to four players can share a Game Pass Ultimate membership in the new scheme

A new preview being tested from today will let some Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members share their membership with multiple users.

The ‘Xbox Game Pass Insider Preview’ will allow users in Ireland and Colombia to “add up to four people to [their] subscription, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits,” according to Microsoft.

While players being added to a subscription don’t have to be part of the Insider programme, they do need to live in the same country as the Insider adding them, essentially limiting the trial to Ireland and Colombia for now.

It also appears that this new scheme may be more expensive than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, should it roll out to the entire Xbox community in the future.

“Joining the Game Pass Insider Preview will convert the time remaining on your membership to time in the new plan, based upon the monetary value of the old membership,” reads an Xbox blog detailing the plan.

“For example, a full month of Ultimate will be converted to 18 days of membership for this plan. This way you won’t lose any of the remaining value on your existing subscription upon conversion. Conversion is final, and users must wait for their new membership to expire before returning to a previous membership.”

Were this calculation to be replicated if the plan rolls out to all users, that would amount to $25 per month for the ‘family’ plan, as opposed to $15 per month for Game Pass Ultimate.

Xbox also states that members of Xbox All Access won’t be able to take part in the preview. Xbox All Access is a payment scheme which allows players to pay for an Xbox, and a Game Pass subscription, as part of a monthly fee.

It’s currently unclear when or if the feature will make its way to other territories.

Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed the next wave of titles heading to Xbox Game Pass for console, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming.