What finally persuaded me to sign up was my crestfallen daughter, who found herself unable to join her game-hopping Xbox friends, who all seem to have Game Pass. My wife and I tend to only buy games we know we're going to like, which is an alien concept for kids. Paying out $60 for a game they simply must have, only to find they're bored with it after a week, wasn't sustainable. But buying a steady stream of games for me, my wife, and my two kids was getting expensive.

I was skeptical about the quality and depth of Game Pass (and game subscription services generally). I often play the same games for weeks, but my Steam library is bristling with unplayed titles, and my kids have an insatiable thirst for new games. Those with an Xbox All Access payment plan can't join a friends and family group.As a veteran PC gamer with a preference for Sony's PlayStation consoles, I’m a late convert to the delights of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service. People who are invited to join a group can't convert their remaining Game Pass time, however.

A full month of an Ultimate subscription equates to 18 days of Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family access, for instance. The primary account holder will be able to convert their existing plan based on the monetary value of the time they have left. There are a few things worth keeping in mind if you're in one of those countries and you're interested in the plan, which offers access to a library of hundreds of PC, console and cloud games and has other benefits. This is the first expansion of the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan, which Microsoft debuted in Colombia and Ireland last summer. Folks in Chile, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden can now sign up for a membership that allows up to five friends and family members in the same country to access Game Pass Ultimate features via a single subscription. Microsoft has expanded the Xbox Game Pass family plan to six more countries.

Microsoft subscription game pass