Have you ever wanted to get games for free- I mean Triple-A titles? Or just have some money in your Xbox account for credits on your favorite game?

The Xbox rewards program puts this type of power into the hands of the gamer. It’s just up to you to reach out and grab it; literally, anybody can take advantage of this program and get money with very little effort.

To be clear, this is not a paycheck or a means of income, but rewards points can be used for gift cards to be used on the Microsoft Store for your Xbox, and Windows 10. Even gift cards for other companies, like Starbucks or Door Dash.

Getting Started

In order to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity, you need to start by signing up for the program at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/rewards, or by downloading the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox. The sign-up process is very simple, especially if you are logged on to an Xbox account. Once an Xbox account is linked to the rewards program all there is to do is earn points.

Earning Points

Rewards points are accrued in many ways, so it’s good to understand different streams to make this happen. In general, points can be earned by playing games, by visiting the Microsoft Rewards app regularly, and by searching the web using the Bing website/app/browser.

One great companion to the rewards program, which I recommend, is Xbox Game Pass, but I’ll get into that a little later. Purchases made in the Microsoft store can also gain points. Each of these methods can be used by itself, as a stand-alone procedure for accumulating points, but using several methods will naturally help to gain much faster.

Earn in the App

Accessing the Microsoft Rewards app, on the Xbox, is key to keeping in touch with opportunities for points as well as earning points. Every week there is a Rewards Weekly Set. The Weekly Set is displayed in the top-left tile of the main screen of the Microsoft Rewards app.

This set consists of three tasks, to be completed through the week. Each of these tasks earns a total of 100 points. Keep a running streak of these sets and additional milestone point sets can be accrued every ten weeks. For example, 1,000 additional points are earned at 10, weeks and 2,500 points are earned at 20 weeks and every ten weeks after.

The weekly sets are fairly consistent from week to week and include previewing a featured game in the Microsoft Store, and cycling through either earning achievements by playing games, searching on Bing, or by completing Daily Sets on Microsoft.com.

Earn by Playing

Every week there is the opportunity to earn 50 points by earning achievements through playing games. As previously mentioned, some of the weekly sets depend on gaining achievements, so these points can be important. Earlier, I mentioned the Game Pass program, which adds another layer to gaining points. With Game Pass there is an opportunity for points to be earned by playing games available in the service, as well as for earning achievements in those games, or by simply logging onto the mobile app.

Earn by Searching

Finally, using the Bing platform to search can be a huge booster to your point-earning abilities. Every day there is the chance to earn hundreds of points just by using Bing as your search engine of choice. Using the Microsoft Edge browser, while logged into your Microsoft (Xbox linked) account can give up to 150 points per day. An additional 100 points are given by using the Bing app to search the web with mobile devices. Each of these methods accrues in 5 point increments until the cap is reached. This daily injection of points can really make a big difference in earnings.

Redeeming Points

Once you start to accumulate points, the rewards can be huge and can be utilized in a few ways. Points can be applied directly to Xbox gift cards, memberships, merchandise, gift cards to external companies, or to sweepstakes entries. The Microsoft Rewards app gives a very clear and easy way to see the available options for redeeming points.

If you want to trade points for Microsoft gift cards, effectively turning your points into dollars in your Microsoft account, you can go about it in two ways: making one-time purchases of Microsoft gift cards or setting up an auto redeem for cards. Trading in a one-off situation will cost slightly more points than an auto redeems but can allow for a more customizable purchase at once, as higher or lower value gift cards can be purchased using this method. Setting up an automatic monthly exchange of points for gift cards will cost slightly fewer points, but is only available for $10 per month.

Sign up Today!

In exchange for a small amount of time, and likely doing things you’re doing already, you can earn a good amount of money. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to cash in on the time you already spend playing games or searching the internet; sign up for Microsoft Rewards and start earning now. Visit https://www.xbox.com/en-US/microsoft-rewards to sign up.

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