Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family Preview Is Ending Soon

Microsoft will soon conclude Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family Plan testing. 

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to IGN via email that the company will end the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family preview on August 15.

“We’re excited about how the Friends & Family plan has resonated with gamers and will be evaluating the learnings to help create an offer that we can bring to more players worldwide in the future,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement sent to IGN. To thank those who participated in the preview, a spokesperson told IGN that participants with an active Game Pass subscription will “receive an Xbox Game Pass offer as a thank you” gift. 

Plans of a subscription tier for Xbox Game Pass that allowed you to share it with multiple people had been heavily rumored. Last September, Microsoft officially announced the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan and began testing the feature out as a preview to Xbox users based in Colombia and Ireland. Under this new tier, up to five users would have access to all the perks and benefits included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, including access to Xbox Cloud Gaming.

We’re excited about how the Friends & Family plan has resonated with gamers and will be evaluating the learnings to help create an offer that we can bring to more players worldwide in the future

Microsoft has not officially unveiled when it will publicly roll out the new subscription tier or how much it will cost. The announcement comes a little over a week after Microsoft increased the price of Game Pass, with an Ultimate subscription now costing $16.99 a month and Game Pass for Xbox consoles now costing $10.99 per month. Prices for PC Game Pass, however, remain unchanged. 

Outside of Game Pass news, Microsoft has also been in the spotlight for its ongoing legal battle with the FTC. Earlier this week, Judge Corley denied the FTC a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from closing its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, with the FTC appealing the decision a day later. 

During this ongoing legal feud, we learned a lot about Microsoft. More recently, the FTC noted in a recent court document how Microsoft planned to use Game Pass and Xbox console sales as a way to offset the losses it would take from making Starfield and Indiana Jones console exclusive on the Xbox Series X/S. 

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.