By redeeming points through the Microsoft Rewards system, some players have accumulated enough to avoid paying real money even for the Ultimate Edition. This is not an unethical trick, but the result of more than a decade of consistent point collecting.
Officially, there are 142 days left until the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, and while Rockstar Games’ open world has generated plenty of discussion because its disc-less physical version costs the same as the digital edition, today we are talking about the people getting GTA 6 for free through Microsoft’s rewards system. No, this is not an unethical trick or anything similar, but the result of 13 years of waiting.
As many of you know, the Microsoft Rewards system, linked to Bing searches, app usage and activities within the company’s ecosystem, allows users to redeem points for digital gift cards. While the number of points available can sometimes be negligible, leaving players with just a few small rewards, some users have spent more than a decade using Xbox services tied to the Rewards programme and accumulated enough points to pre-order GTA 6 without spending any real money.
This Is How Some Players Are Getting Grand Theft Auto VI for Free on Xbox
One such case was shared by a user known as HugoWheynow, who claims to have used approximately 98,000 Microsoft Points to complete the pre-order of the game’s Ultimate Edition. The player also thanked Rockstar for the time spent developing the game and pointed out that the title’s multiple delays actually worked in his favour, as they allowed him to keep collecting points over the past two years until he reached the amount needed to cover the game’s final price.
As mentioned at the beginning, the method is legal and does not require doing anything problematic, but it does demand a great deal of consistency: estimates suggest that an active user can generate between 12,000 and 15,000 points per month by combining Bing searches, mobile app use and other activities within the programme. This obviously depends on the user’s activity, but a player can earn up to 150 points through web searches, another 50 for using Bing, a further 50 for using the Xbox mobile app, and so on, day after day, building up thousands and thousands of points. It is one way to gamify everyday life.
After collecting enough points, players can redeem them for Xbox gift cards, which can then be used to buy digital games through the official store. The issue is that, according to players, you need to redeem ten €10 gift cards worth 10,000 points each, which means a total of 100,000 points. So, for anyone only discovering this now, there is no realistic way to get GTA 6 for free in the five months that remain, but perhaps it could happen by Christmas.
Source: 3DJuegos
