Microsoft is discontinuing the Friends & Family subscription for Xbox Game Pass, which allowed up to five people to access the service. The subscription, which was in a testing phase and available in eight countries, will end on August 15. However, the Netherlands and Belgium were not among the countries where it was available.
Under the Friends & Family subscription, users paid €22 per month, while a Game Pass Ultimate subscription for one person cost €13 per month before Microsoft recently raised the price by €2 per month. The family subscription allowed up to five people to enjoy Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Users did not have to reside at the same address but had to be residents of the same country.
Initially, the Friends & Family subscription was only available in Colombia and Ireland. Since February of this year, it was rolled out to an additional six countries. However, the subscription was not available in the Netherlands and Belgium.
It is unclear if the subscription will return in a different form, with different conditions or pricing. Microsoft stated that they are “assessing what we have learned over the past few months” and “exploring how to create an offering to launch globally.”