Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service is often touted as the best value in gaming. It's a hard proposition to argue with, given the large library of games the service offers to console and PC users for $9.99 a month. Whether it's the day one release of blockbusters like Halo Infinite or an indie game like Hollow Knight, Game Pass has a wide enough variety of titles to have something for nearly every player. Unlike Sony's answer to Game Pass, the recently revamped PlayStation Plus, Game Pass only features two tiers of service.
Game Pass Ultimate bundles subscriptions with Xbox Live Gold and EA Play, offering their games as well as a rotating series of perks like a free Marvel Unlimited trial, for an extra $5 a month. As much as Microsoft packs into that extra $5, it may be difficult to justify for the budget-conscious. However, there is a way to get a Game Pass subscription without spending any money. As enticing as that sounds, it's not for everyone.
Instead of paying for Game Pass Ultimate with a credit or debit card, players can redeem Microsoft Rewards points for Game Pass Ultimate Gift Cards. Microsoft Rewards points can be earned online, for doing everything from using Bing as a search engine to completing daily sets comprised of quizzes and searches. Because Microsoft Rewards extends to all the company's platforms, points can also be earned on Xbox consoles. Microsoft Rewards is baked into the Xbox console experience, with the Microsoft Rewards app being accessible via the console's main menu.
Like earning rewards points online, Xbox owners can complete a weekly set to earn 100 points. The only real challenge to completing weekly sets is when earning achievements is required, which happens on a bi-weekly basis. The Rewards app also offers daily points for earning achievements. Further, it features other offers with different requirements, such as purchasing specific games and DLC or spending a certain amount during a sale.
The Xbox Game Pass app also offers chances to earn Rewards Points that can be put toward a subscription. Game Pass Quests come in daily, weekly, and monthly varieties. Players can earn 3 points per day simply for playing a Game Pass game on their console. If you're away from your setup, you can also earn your daily points by booting up a game on your phone via cloud gaming on the Game Pass app.
Redeeming three daily quests is worth 10 points, as is playing three games or earning three achievements in a Game Pass game. Playing two specific games each week nets 25 points a piece. Monthly quests are a combination of completing specific tasks in games, like making a choice in a Telltale or Supermassive game and completing enough daily and weekly quests to earn up to 1,000 points.
Beyond earning Rewards Points, completing Game Pass Quests encourages players to explore the service's library. For anyone who wants to see what Game Pass has to offer, quests provide an incentive to be more adventurous with the library. With new games being added weekly, it's easy for games to get lost in the shuffle. Completing quests can be purely transactional, but they can also lead to the discovery of hidden gems like This War of Mine.
There are some drawbacks to earning points via quests. Completionists will need to sink a decent amount of time and hard drive space into games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, maximizing their point totals in a given month. While this isn't the dystopian grind that some envision the future of blockchain gaming to be, it can still feel like a side hustle unto itself. If nothing else, having to choose between sinking an hour into a game the player really enjoys or one just to earn points can make quests feel like a chore. This is especially true when they repeat.
Earning enough Microsoft Rewards Points to cover a Game Pass Ultimate subscription is most viable for players with a healthy amount of free time on their hands. It can become a game in its own right. Unfortunately, it's too much like a feedback loop of playing Game Pass so that you continue to subscribe to Game Pass to recommend to anyone else.
If your gaming time is less of a daily habit and more of a luxury, focusing on Game Pass Quests won't leave you with much time to get the most out of the games you want to play. As tantalizing as "free" Game Pass Ultimate might look on paper, it's probably best for most players to pay for Game Pass with money and not time.