A Way Out - Friend Can't Join Me/Stuck on Authenticating

Hey there, 

So me and my friend have been trying to join each other on A Way Out, however, whenever I invite him, he's stuck on the "Authentication" part where eventually it's just two yellow circles spinning forever. We've both tried all the "solutions" including clearing Mac address, resetting Xbox, etc.

We're both on Xbox One. I have the physical copy of A Way Out and my friend has the free trial. Is this a server issue on EA's side?

Any help would be appreciated.