Microsoft tested a Game Pass Friends and Family plan back in 2022 and 2023. The plan would have let up to four users share access to the Game Pass library at a discounted price. After running several test phases, Microsoft quietly put the program on hold by the end of 2023.
At the time, Phil Spencer said his team needed to find a way to make the Friends and Family offer work for both game creators and players. He also confirmed there was still a roadmap to bring it back in some form. It never came back.
Jez Corden Points the Finger at EA
Now, Windows Central reporter Jez Corden has shared what he heard behind the scenes. Writing in a roundup of the top trending Xbox Player Voice requests, Corden said the cancellation of the Game Pass family plan “wasn’t actually Microsoft’s fault.”
He reported that EA, which has a long-term contract within the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem, “fully hated the idea.”
Here is what Corden wrote directly:
Microsoft was testing a Family Plan for Xbox Game Pass, giving up to four users access to the library in exchange for a discount. I was told EA, who is a long-term contractee within the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem, fully hated the idea.
Jez Corden
Corden did not say EA was the only reason. He framed it as one significant factor among what were likely several. Microsoft still made the final call, as it always does on product decisions.
EA’s Role in Game Pass
EA has a unique position inside the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem. Its games are bundled through a separate EA Play component included in Game Pass Ultimate. This arrangement gives EA a stake in how Microsoft structures and sells its subscription tiers.
A family plan offering four accounts at a discount could, in theory, affect how EA calculates the value of its content being on the service. EA Play on its own costs subscribers separately, so a deeply discounted multi-user bundle may have conflicted with EA’s existing terms or revenue expectations.
Neither Microsoft nor EA has made any public comment confirming or denying Corden’s account.
Microsoft has not announced any plans to revisit the family plan. Xbox head Asha Sharma now oversees a lot of the platform direction, and it remains to be seen whether a family tier gets added to the current Game Pass lineup, which includes Standard, PC Game Pass, Ultimate, and the newer Game Pass Premium tier.
Whether EA’s stance has changed since 2022 and 2023 is also unknown. The company has not commented publicly on the matter.
For now, the family plan stays as one of the most talked-about features that Xbox has never shipped.