Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

How to gameshare on Xbox Series X

Jesse Lennox
By

With each new generation of consoles comes a mixture of new and exciting features — but also the loss of smaller conveniences. One of the biggest movements still ongoing is the growth of the digital games market. More and more games are being sold digitally every year, which is great for a lot of reasons. It’s convenient, you don’t need to go out and make a trip to buy a game, you can’t lose or damage it, and it doesn’t take up any physical space.

Related Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

15 minutes

What You Need

One of the main drawbacks of digital games has always been the fear of not being able to share your games, but the Xbox Series X has a solution. While it isn't absolutely perfect, here's everything you need to know about sharing your digital library through gameshare.

Further reading

How gameshare works

Gamesharing almost feels like an exploit when you break it down, but as long as you know and trust the person you’re sharing with, it’s perfectly safe. When you purchase and download a game on the Series X, any account on that console you purchased it on can play it. That’s because, by default, the console you created your account on is considered the “home console.” But the account that actually made the purchase can also access everything they’ve purchased as well, regardless of what console they’re on. That’s how you’re able to take your digital library from one console to the next just by logging into your existing account.

So, if you were to make someone else’s Series X your home console, and they yours, then anything either of you buys digitally could be accessed by the other. As long as you are logged in on your account back on your own console, you’ll also still have access to your library. Just know that you are only allowed to have one Xbox, Series X or otherwise, set as your home console at a time. You can also only change which console is your home console five times per year, so you aren’t able to swap who you’re sharing with too often. Other than that, the only real limitation to gamesharing is the fact that you can’t download anyone else’s physical games — you’ll have to share those the old-fashioned way. You can even both play the same title at the same time if you want.

how to gameshare on an xbox series x my home menu

How to set up gameshare

Gameshare on the Xbox Series X allows you and a friend or family member to share any and all digital games you have purchased on your console. This includes titles you have access to via Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate. Just make sure you trust whoever you’re going to be gamesharing with because you will need to put your account on their console in order to set it up. That means, even after you log back in on your own console, they could still access your account via their Xbox.

Step 1: The first step is to either sign in on the Series X console you want to share with or have the owner of that console sign in on your console. To add your account on another Xbox, open the guide and select Profile and System > Add new. You can then enter your existing account details.

Step 2: On the second console, open the guide by pressing the menu button and go to Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My home Xbox > Make this my home Xbox. If you want the sharing to work both ways, so your friend or family member can access all of your games and you access all of theirs, then have them repeat the same process of making your Xbox their home Xbox.

Related

And that’s it — you and your friend or family member can now download and play any game you have or will purchase digitally moving forward. This also includes any subscription services you have, such as EA Play or Game Pass. You won’t lose access to anything, but because you have set someone else’s Xbox as your home console, you will need to be logged in to your account to play. This is a fantastic way to save money, share your favorite games with friends and family, or make it easier to access your games if you have multiple consoles.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The best Xbox Series X games for 2023
Two Spartans side by side in Halo Infinite.

After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and Redfall, and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.

Read more
Diablo 4 beta rewards: how to earn all titles and cosmetics
Diablo 4 promotional image of Lillith

Diablo 4's beta is an opportunity for fans of the loot-heavy role-playing game to sink some time into its dark and demonic world before the game launches on June 6. Though you can invest a good bit of time into seeing everything Blizzard has included in the beta, you won't be able to carry the progress you make into the full game, meaning everything you do is just for testing purposes – well, almost everything. By completing a few milestones during the beta, you can earn some neat rewards to use in the full release later this year. Here's how to get them all.
All Diablo 4 beta rewards and how to get them

There are three rewards you can obtain during Diablo 4's beta, including two titles and a unique (and extremely cute) cosmetic – all of which assumedly won't ever be earnable by any other means in the retail game. In other words, if you want anything Blizzard is offering during the beta period, you'll need to devote the time to get them now or risk never having another opportunity.

Read more
Fortnite Nitro Drifter: locations and how to destroy items
fortnite nitro drifter locations destroy items

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 has come packing a variety of new locations, items, and features for fans to check out, from an exciting new cyberpunk city to explore to thrilling melee showdowns with the Kinetic Blade. You'll find a lot to get into on the freshly revamped map, and some of it may even be a part of the season's weekly quests, such as the Week 1 challenge "Destroy objects while drifting or boosting in a Nitro Drifter." In this guide, we'll tell you where you can find a Nitro Drifter racing car to knock out this challenge quickly and easily.
Fortnite Nitro Drifter locations

With the addition of multiple new vehicles in Chapter 4 Season 2, you'd be forgiven for not knowing precisely which one is a Nitro Drifter (pictured above). This colorful street racing car can be found in multiple spots around the map, but it's most plentiful in and around Mega City -- which unfortunately isn't one of the best places to land in Fortnite, due to it being a hotspot. If you don't want to deal with all of the competition you're certain to face in downtown Mega City, your best bet for finding plenty of Nitro Drifters is by landing at the racetrack to the north of the city.

Read more