Earlier this year in July, Xbox announced it would be ending its preview for the Xbox Game Pass 'Friends & Family' plan. If you're wondering what's happening with it, Windows Central recently got an update from Phil Spencer.
According to the Microsoft Gaming CEO, there is apparently still a roadmap for the Xbox Family Plan, the team just needs to come up with a "value proposition for creators and for players" that makes it work for both parties. This has already been achieved with Game Pass, and according to Phil, Xbox will "continue to look at ways to bring value to more customers, while continuing to make it a great service for creators".
Before its abrupt preview closure in July, the 'Friends & Family plan' was extended to six more countries at the start of 2023. This plan was designed to make it "even easier" to play Game Pass games with friends and family members across console, PC and cloud, including the ability to play the same game at the same time.
What do you make of these comments? Could you see a Family Plan working? Did you check out the preview? Let us know.
[source windowscentral.com]
Comments 16
Every service plan has one and i think in time it will be important for GP to have one as well. This will help the service become more mainstream which is the end goal for any service. Happy to see this is still in the works.
Get on with it. This should have happened a long time ago.
Not really sure what’s caused the hold up but glad it is still coming. Will be even better if it extends to PC so my kids and I can play together across my PC and their 2x Series S consoles 🙂
That’s nice and all, but why didn’t they wait to close down the family plan until AFTER they nailed down its value prop?
I'm waiting for this to happen so I can take advantage of it, I will be moving over to it when I can.
As soon as this is out and there’s another sale on consoles I’ll be doubling down with another Series X for the kids playroom. Get on with it Microsoft!
This is basically code for “we priced it too cheap during the test phase, and now we have to wait for a strategic time for a price hike, when you will thank us more for its existence”
We've heard this for years now, just release it already!
@EvenStephen7 I'm wondering why, of all the countries they did it in, America wasn't the first choice honestly?
I really wish Microsoft would quit beating around the bush about this, I will only own 1 xbox until friends and family is a thing. I had planned on buying 2 xbox series s consoles for my kids until I realized I would have to purchase 3 separate game pass subscriptions and also 3 separate copies of games I would like for my kids to Play along with on xbox live. I would rather pay double price for game pass friends and family so that my kids can play the same games that I already own instead of making separate game purchases.
@Doomed87 you can at least get 2 systems on the same account right now. I do that so my son can access all my content. His Xbox is assigned home so my profile is on it but not logged in or active but access to content and Xbl works. Then on my Xbox I have to be online and logged in to access content but we can play together on separate system from separate locations. I can also access my content on PC without issue. If the game has split screen you can have 2 people on the "home" xbox while you play on the profile that actually pays for everything on the 2nd console and it works even if you share an external IP address.
Yes, I've done that but the kids fight about who plays when it's a single player game so it's really not an ideal situation lol
Honestly, if Xbox want to get Gamepass in more homes, they need to hurry up and get this released already. I have three kids with Series S consoles that are clamouring for Gamepass, but it doesn't make economical sense to buy another three Gamepass subs (I already have Ultimate for my Series X). The day they finally release this in the UK, it's instabuy for me and I'm sure many others feel the same.
It's crazy how they miss an opportunity ... I'm ready to 'spend the money' but I need a solution that will cover me and my son playing together (PC and XBOX X) and having access to the game library. And of course, not the price of 2 game passes...
I used the family game pass as we have 1 series x and 3 series s in the house and was a perfect way to allow all the family to play games on one pass, i was annoyed when it was removed as don't remember seeing anything about it being a trial, now I pay for 2 subscriptions with the 2 boxes sharing that subscription so surely they could bring it back currently paying like 30 euro a month surely 25 euro a month for a family pass would still be a good deal and not that much loss to developers etc
I bought a series X for myself and Gamepass Unlimited and thought it was the best thing since Sega Channel... so after the Family plan beta started I bought 3 series S for the kids that Xmas in anticipation of its global launch. Microsoft would never beta such an obviously winning high-demand product and then pull the rug, right? What a joke. Now I'm stuck paying for 2 full Gamepass subs, mine and one shared between the youngest two, and the eldest just plays free games on his and otherwise mostly plays on his PC. Microsoft is going to lose him, and I'll never buy MS consoles for the kids again, instead probably guiding them towards PC... Microsoft has given me a perfect teaching opportunity about the real downsides of platform lock-in. GamePass Unlimited was a killer feature that dragged me away from 4 generations of Playstation, and I was happy. Dropping the ball on Family killed all that good will and replaced it with piles of negative sentiment that only continue to grow every month.
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