Xbox Game Pass Friend & Family Officially Launches in Ireland and Colombia - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 September 2022 / 2,121 Views
A logo for "Xbox Game Pass Friends and Family" leaked earlier this week following Microsoft testing a new Xbox Game Pass tier in Ireland and Colombia at the beginning of August.
The Xbox Game Pass Friend & Family plan has now officially launched in Ireland and Colombia, as spotted by Twitter user Idle Sloth. It is priced at €21.99 ($21.87 USD) per month in Ireland and $49,900 ($11.19 USD) in Colombia.
The new plan gives you access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and let you share the benefits by adding up to four people to their subscription who live in the same country as the primary account holder. Everyone added will have unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits.
To add or remove friends or family to your Xbox Game Pass Friend & Family plan you can send an invitation email or link at account.microsoft.com.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to hundreds of games on Xbox consoles, PC, and cloud.
(FYI) Xbox Game Pass Friend & Family has official launch in Ireland & Colombia ????
— Idle Sloth?? (@IdleSloth84) September 1, 2022
It is official priced at €21.99 a month in Irelandhttps://t.co/jXsMbENR97
It is official priced at $49,900 a month in Colombia (equals to U.S. $11.20 per month)https://t.co/VrwJKWvTPE pic.twitter.com/yRGV4xmkhr
Read an FAQ on the Xbox Game Pass Friend & Family plan in Ireland below:
How does Friends & Family work?
There are two kinds of Friends & Family plan members: The primary account holder is responsible for payments and the only member able to add other users to the group membership, while secondary group members are added and/or removed by the primary member.
To become a primary account holder, you must join Friends & Family through the digital Microsoft Store. After joining, you can manage group members on your Services & subscriptions page and can fill as many or as few of the set number of seats as you’d like.
In which countries/regions is Friends & Family available?
Currently we are piloting this plan in Colombia and the Republic of Ireland. Future countries/regions might be added in the next months. In Colombia, the monthly price is 49,900 COP. In Ireland, the monthly price is 21.99 euros.
Can I share my membership with people anywhere in the world?
No, you can only share your membership with people who live in your own country/region . If a group member changes their country/region of residence and no longer matches that of the primary account holder, they will be removed from the group.
Are there any other limitations I should be aware of?
Yes:
- You can only be a member of one group at a time.
- As the primary account holder, you can invite up to four people at a time with a max of eight people who accept to join your account per year.
- Your group members can only join a group up to two times per year. This includes leaving and rejoining the same group.
- Only the primary account holder can share their Game Pass benefits via home sharing. Group members cannot share with other accounts on their console.
If I have time remaining on my existing Game Pass or Gold membership, what happens when I purchase the Game Pass Friends & Family plan?
After you join Game Pass Friends & Family as a Primary Account Holder, the time remaining on your previous plan will automatically convert based on the following table. Conversion ratio subject to change.
|
I currently have… |
When I upgrade, it becomes… |
|---|---|
|
30 days Xbox Game Pass Ultimate |
18 days Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family |
|
30 days Xbox Game Pass (Console) |
12 days Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family |
|
30 days PC Game Pass |
12 days Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family |
|
30 days Xbox Live Gold |
12 days Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family |
|
30 days EA Play |
6 days Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family |
How do I stop recurring billing?
The recurring billing feature is switched on by default, meaning you'll automatically pay for a new subscription period when your current period ends.
You can switch recurring billing off and back on through your Microsoft account or from your console. Learn more about stopping recurring billing at Microsoft Support.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Judging by Ireland's price, I'm assuming it'll be $24.99/month in the US. That's insane value!!! If you can get 4 friends to join, that's just going to be $5/month!
Even at $30/month that's a great deal!
This price is 69% higher in Ireland and 72% higher in Columbia, so it looks like they're making it 70% more expensive and then massaging the number to be a nice and marketable round number.
Perhaps that'll hold in other markets. If so, 70% higher in the US is $25.50, so your guess is as good as mine whether they'd prefer it be $24.99 or $25.99. :)
Not sure its the best idea for MSFT to release this as it gives further ammunition to the argument that they are selling this as a loss leader. It probably is loss making already and multiplying it by 4 makes it pretty impossible to justify or explain how it is money making.
Im sure there will be some creative reporting of user numbers when this comes out world wide.
I'm not sure why people care if it's a loss leader or not. It's MS. They can handle it.
That's what I was thinking lol. As long as the gaming division is bringing in money, which they are judging by the record setting quarter they just had, MS couldn't care less if they're taking a loss on a certain aspect of their gaming business.
No offense, but this "loss leader" thing is not backed up by anything and mainly comes from the people against of Microsoft or Xbox in general (or a 'competitor')...
People are randomly guessing and assuming this based on thin air while Microsoft themselves KEEP saying it is sustainable (ie: not at loss...). It is not sustainable for Sony (and they said it) because they current revenues and profits are based on the current model they have. Microsoft on the other hand... Was really not making the same amount of money with their model; so not selling games at full price is not affecting their profit/revenues the same way and this is not very hard to understand.
I mean at this point; the people who by default believe that Microsoft (a publicly traded company with obligations) is lying and selling their stuff at loss;... I'm not sure how you have a normal conversation about anything.
Yeah... we have more information than ever before, yet we know less than ever (thanks to misinformation and conspiracy theories).
Regardless if Microsofts balance sheet can handle it, Loss leader/predatory pricing is illegal. Essentially its the practice of forcing out competitors or denying competition by offering a product at below cost.
Easy way for that to be ruled out is for MSFT to be forced to provide financial reports on the division to the regulators with a loss cap and if they fail to comply then they face sanctions.
You're half right. Predatory pricing is pretty much always illegal, but loss leaders are not necessarily. Game consoles are frequently sold as loss leaders. Razors are frequently sold as loss leaders.
No one has demonstrated that Game Pass is loss leader pricing, let alone predatory pricing, so you're "begging the question" here.
Who says this is a loss leader? Firstly, it's 70% more expensive than regular Game Pass Ultimate. Secondly, Microsoft has said that Game Pass members buy more content than non-members, so perhaps Microsoft sees this as a net revenue generator (due to increasing the total number of GP members, and that GP members buy more content).
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