Microsoft’s new Xbox Game Pass referral program lets you invite PC friends to try Game Pass

Microsoft is launching a new Xbox Game Pass friend 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 free 14-day trials of PC Game Pass.

The friend referral invitations are available on the Game Pass homescreen and are only available to be sent to friends who are new to Game Pass. Microsoft is launching this offer just as Redfall debuts on Xbox and PC today, allowing Game Pass members to get friends playing the co-op vampire shooter.

If a friend that’s new to Game Pass does accept this offer, then it means they cannot use another introductory offer later like the promo cards that come with accessories. Microsoft also used to offer $1 trial offers for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, but it discontinued these in March saying it was “evaluating different marketing promotions” for new members. It looks like 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 growing PC Game Pass recently after growth on the console side of the service slowed down last year.

“We’re seeing incredible growth on PC ... On console, I’ve seen growth slow down, mainly because at some point you’ve reached everybody on console that wants to subscribe,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spence in an interview in October. Microsoft also said in October that PC Game Pass subscriptions had increased by 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 out new releases for up to 10 hours.