Microsoft has announced it is offering a three-month free trial of its Game Pass service to anyone who played Halo Infinite, Age of Empires 4, or Forza Horizon 5 at any point between each game's respective launch and February 28 of this year. This includes anyone who purchased and played these games via Steam or the Microsoft Store, as well as anyone who has jumped into Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer.
The offer is valid only to players who have "never" subscribed to Game Pass. If you're a previous subscriber who subsequently cancelled their subscription, you can't jump back in for free to check out what's changed. The offer also excludes the regions of Russia and India. The reasons for this are not stated, although the former exclusion is likely related to Microsoft's suspension of all sales in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Players can check their eligibility for the trial by visiting the Xbox website here and signing into their Microsoft account. Once the trial expires, players will then be charged the current membership rate, although the subscription can be cancelled at any time.
Alongside reports of an upcoming, Game Pass 'family plan', which would let players share access between multiple accounts within the same country, it appears Microsoft is making a big push to expand the reach of its service. This is likely a response to Sony's recent announcement of its reinvented PS Plus subscription.
In any case, now is undoubtedly the best time to take advantage of Game Pass. With more than 25 million subscribers, the service is in rude health and isn't going anywhere soon, and for the current monthly fee you get access to a lot of great games. But as Wes recently pointed out, the deal can't stay this good forever. Price increases are inevitable, particularly when massively anticipated games like Starfield start appearing on the service.
