Microsoft’s new referral program lets you gift 14-day PC Game Pass trials to your friends

If you and your friends are morbidly curious to experience Redfall for yourselves, it just so happens Microsoft has your back. Starting today, current Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can gift up to five friends a free 14-day PC Game Pass trial. Provided your friend hasn’t tried the service before, you can send them a referral invite by clicking the new “Give PC Game Pass” button found on the Game Pass Home screen.

If you’re curious why the offer only involves PC Game Pass, a statement Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer made last fall provides the likely answer. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said Game Pass was, at the time, experiencing “incredible” growth on PC, with uptake on Xbox consoles slowing primarily due to saturation. “... at some point, you’ve reached everybody on console that wants to subscribe,” Spencer told the outlet. It would appear then Microsoft hopes to capitalize on that trend.

The launch of the referral program comes after Microsoft last month stopped offering its Game Pass introductory offer, which allowed new users to pay $1 to try the service for a month. At the time, the company said it was “evaluating different marketing promotions” for attracting new customers to Game Pass.