Microsoft removes Game Pass subscriptions from its rewards program

Unlike the recently shuttered PlayStation Stars, Microsoft has been successfully running its own customer rewards program for many years now, allowing members to claim all sorts – including months worth of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, with the console maker announcing that your Microsoft points will no longer go quite as far.

Microsoft’s rewards points cater to much more than just Xbox users, with Microsoft account holders in general being able to earn points for various digital and physical items – including sweepstakes competitions, Tesco gift cards and much more.

Easily one of the most popular rewards for this program however was Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, with members being able to redeem various tiers of the monthly game subscription service simply using these earned points.

While Microsoft Rewards isn’t going away, the console maker has now announced a change to the service, writing (as shared by BlueSky user Wario64):

“Starting October 1st, you will no longer be able to directly redeem your Rewards points for Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. To continue enjoying Xbox Game Pass using your Rewards points, you will need to first redeem your Rewards points for an Xbox gift card and then redeem your Xbox gift card for your desired Game Pass subscription.”

While ostensibly this change added a mere extra step to the process, Xbox gift cards are a much less efficient way of spending your credits, with members now having to cough up around 5000 extra points in the UK for a month of Game Pass Ultimate – potentially more in future if Game Pass prices continue to rise.

While the service has easily outlived the likes of PlayStation Stars, it appears as though Microsoft’s Rewards program is unfortunately getting much less rewarding. 

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KitGuru says: Do you make use of Microsoft’s rewards program? If so, what do you spend your points on? Let us know down below.

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