Xbox Game Pass has made a name for itself due to the immense value it offers as a gaming subscription. And perhaps this new offering is going to be the one thing that definitively sends it beyond PlayStation Plus - leagues beyond, even, when talking about overall value.
Xbox game pass gift cards are seen in a store in Krakow, Poland on August 26, 2021
Windows Central reports that Microsoft's vaunted subscription service has already launched a family sharing option in Ireland and Colombia - though only to Xbox Insiders in the aforementioned regions. The limited-time test of the Xbox Game Pass Family Plan reportedly allows up to five individual users (including the main owner) on a single plan, within the same country.
The price in Ireland is said to be €21.99 per month, while the tentative pricing for the US is reportedly around $24.99. According to Microsoft senior technical program manager Tyler Mittleider (via The Verge), the limited-time test for Xbox Insiders in Colombia and Ireland allows as much as five people to have their own unique access to Game Pass ultimate titles, content, and benefits, among others.
Here's just how much value you can expect from the tentative 5-person Xbox Game Pass Family Plan. As previously mentioned, all of the perks of Game Pass Ultimate are accessible across all individual subscribers under one plan. Considering that a single Ultimate license costs $14.99 a month, this means that each person on one subscription basically has access to the service for a tiny $5 a month each.
Again, that's an insane amount of monetary value to think about, especially if you compare it to competing game subscription services. With a subscription, you get access to Xbox Live Gold, unlimited access to over 100 rotating, high-quality console and PC games, and even the Xbox Cloud Gaming beta. Not to mention, Microsoft's service offers access to Day One releases of Xbox Game Studios releases, which is something that Sony doesn't offer with its first-party PlayStation studios and their revamped PS Plus.
For now, Microsoft hasn't shared a timeline on when the Xbox Game Pass Family Plan will roll out in other regions beyond Colombia and Ireland. But as reported by PC Gamer, the company says it has "more to share" as the year progresses.
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Should You Go For Game Pass Now?
With news of the Xbox Game Pass Family Plan, Microsoft is really playing hardball now. It's worth noting that Team Green is still lagging behind PS Plus in terms of overall subscribers due to the latter's combined "old" PS Plus and PS Now subs. But with the five-person family plan, Game Pass could finally be catapulted over its competitor - provided the circumstances prove perfect.
That's because a family plan only makes sense if a single household had five avid gamers at once. Now, pray tell how many families of five or more that you know are all gamers. It's a little hard to imagine that such gamer households are common, even if they do exist already. But then again, it's way too early to assume things.
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