Microsoft is launching a new Xbox Game Pass Friends Referral Program that lets you invite friends to try out PC Game Pass. The friend referral offer is available for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members to invite up to five friends for a 14-day free trial of PC Game Pass.
The friend referral invites are available on the Game Pass home screen and can only be sent to friends who are new to Game Pass. Microsoft is launching this offer just like redfall debuts today on Xbox and PC, allowing Game Pass members to get friends to play the co-op vampire shooter.
Microsoft has been focusing on the growth of PC Game Pass lately
If a friend new to Game Pass accepts this offer, it means they won’t be able to use any other introductory offer later, such as the promotional cards that come with accessories. Microsoft also offered $1 trial offers for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, but stopped them in March, saying it was “evaluating various marketing promotions” for new members. It seems that this friend referral program is the replacement for those $1 trials.
This PC-specific offer also comes less than a month after Microsoft expanded PC Game Pass to 40 new countries. Microsoft has been focusing on PC Game Pass growth lately after growth on the console side of the service slowed last year.
“We’re seeing incredible growth on PC…On console, I’ve seen growth slow down, especially because at some point you’ve reached everyone on console who wants to subscribe,” said Phil Spence, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, in an interview in October. Microsoft also said in October that PC Game Pass subscriptions were up 159 percent year over year.
PC Game Pass includes access to all of Microsoft’s own Xbox PC games, hundreds of third-party PC games, Bethesda PC titles, and an EA Play membership to try new releases for up to 10 hours.