Compared to titles from other developers, one of the best things about Hazelight Studios' two-player co-op games is that they have a Friend's Pass. This nifty feature allows someone to play with you completely free-of-charge as long as you've purchased a copy yourself, meaning that you don't have to buy two to dive in with a friend or loved one. Both 2017's A Way Out and 2021's Game of the Year-winning It Takes Two had a Friend's Pass, and the newly released Split Fiction does as well (with cross-play for the first time, too).
Understanding how to use the Split Fiction Friend's Pass can be a little confusing, though, especially if you've never played a Hazelight game before. To help you out, I've gone over how to download and use the feature in the guide below. Read on for an overview of everything you need to know.
How to download the Split Fiction Friend's Pass
The Split Fiction Friend's Pass isn't accessed through the game's main menu like you might expect it to be. Instead, the Friend's Pass has to be downloaded and installed by the person who's going to use it — not the one who bought the game.
This can be done by finding the Split Fiction Friend's Pass listing on the storefront of the platform player two is using, and downloading it for free. To make that easier, I've included links to each Friend's Pass page across Xbox, Windows PC apps, and PS5 in the list below.
Note that you can find the Friend's Pass within the EA app if you're using that platform to play. Also, something to keep in mind is that the Friend's Pass includes the full game in its files, so be prepared for a full 85GB download.
Once player two in your duo has the Friend's Pass installed on their platform of choice, you're ready for the next steps.
How to use the Split Fiction Friend's Pass
Now that player two has the Friend's Pass installed, you're ready to connect to each other and start playing Split Fiction. To do that, perform the following steps:
- First, have each player open the game and either create or sign in with an existing EA account.
- Make sure that you add the person you're going to play with as a friend on your EA account. This is important for cross-play to work.
- Also, if you're on Xbox or PS5, you'll need Xbox Game Pass Core or PlayStation Plus to play online, respectively.
- Next, have the person who owns the game select Play Online.
- Then, have them press the Invite Friend input.
- After that, that player should then send an invite to the person on their friend's list they want to play with.
- If playing with someone using the same platform as you, select the option to invite a friend through that platform.
- If playing with someone with cross-play, select the option to invite someone through your EA friend's list. Also note that Xbox and PlayStation users will need to enable cross-play in their console settings if they haven't done so already.
- Finally, the player using the Friend's Pass should press Accept once the invite pops up on their screen.
And with that, you're good to go! Once the person using the Friend's Pass connects to the player that owns the game, you can begin your session and embark on Split Fiction's genre-bending adventure together. Simply repeat this process each time you and your friend want to continue your journey after disconnecting or closing the game.
Split Fiction stands out as one of the best Xbox games and best PC gamesto play this year if you're after a memorable co-op experience. It's available now from a number of different retailers and platforms, with the Steam version notably discounted down to just $40.59 at CDKeys.
