Rumor: Microsoft announces Xbox Game Pass subscription for families

Microsoft may be working on a family plan for Xbox Game Pass. Anonymous sources report this to Windows Central. Such a subscription would allow users to share a Game Pass subscription with others within a household.

According to Windows Central Microsoft had been considering a family subscription for Xbox Game Pass for some time and the company has now decided to continue those plans. The company would announce such a subscription “in the near future.” A release should take place sometime this year, sources tell the website.

The family plan would give up to five people access to Xbox Game Pass. The subscription should thereby become ‘considerably cheaper’ than several separate Xbox Game Pass subscriptions within a household, such as are currently needed. However, an exact price is not yet known. The new subscription will be based on the current Microsoft Family Account system, according to sources. Microsoft already offers family subscriptions for services such as Office 365 through that system.

It is not known whether there will be separate family subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft currently offers these three subscription types separately, for different rates. Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass currently cost $10 a month, while Game Pass Ultimate costs $13 a month. Ultimate offers access to both the Xbox and PC versions of Game Pass, in addition to EA Play Access, online multiplayer for Xbox and Xbox Cloud Streaming.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate