Earlier this week leaks suggested Xbox was readying to reveal a Friends & Family Plan for its highly vaunted Game Pass service. With the cat very much out of the bag, Xbox has indeed revealed the new option on Game Pass, along with pricing.

Before you rush off to purchase the plan, it is important to note that this model is still being tested out by Xbox in two territories for now – Ireland and Colombia. This was the case when Microsoft debuted its family plan for Game Pass a couple of months ago too.

To that end the Friends & Family plan will cost €21.99 (~R378.95) a month in Ireland and 49 900 COP (Colombian Pesos) in Colombia. The plan will then entitle subscribers to share access to Game Pass with up to four people, along with enabling co-op play for those part of the plan.

Xbox has been mum as to when it plans to rollout out this option to more territories, but has noted that there will be developments in the coming months.

To that end a FAQ notes that, “currently we are piloting this plan in Colombia and the Republic of Ireland. Future countries / regions might be added in the next months”.

It is still unconfirmed, but South Africa should be one of those territories, but just how far down the line it will be available locally, still remains unclear, as is potential pricing.

If you are hoping a friend in Ireland or Colombia can do you a solid and sgare access, the plans are region locked. “You can only share your membership with people who live in your own country/region. If a group member changes their country/region of residence and no longer matches that of the primary account holder, they will be removed from the group,” the FAQ explained.

It also outlined the following elements to be aware of when it comes to sharing and accepting requests for the Friends & Family plan:

• “You can only be a member of one group at a time.
• As the primary account holder, you can invite up to four people at a time with a max of eight people who accept to join your account per year.
• Your group members can only join a group up to two times per year. This includes leaving and rejoining the same group.
• Only the primary account holder can share their Game Pass benefits via home sharing. Group members cannot share with other accounts on their console.”

With Microsoft adding new value propositions to its Game Pass offering, PlayStation Plus continues to lag behind.