Now that Microsoft’s long-maligned MS Points are dead and gone from Xbox Live, the program built to feed bonus MS Points to loyal gamers has been changed to reflect that. The new face of Xbox Live Rewards allows users to earn cash for use on XBL by collecting credits. So instead of earning one type of points to receive a completely different type of points, you’re earning new points to receive cash that you can use as credit. Got that?
Let’s take a closer look. Much like the previous Xbox Live Rewards program, you earn credits for completing various Xbox Live-related tasks. A full-year Gold membership renewal is worth 3,000 points. Log 10 hours in a new game within 30 days of its release, you can snag another 1,000. A new punchard feature offers rewards for making a string of related purchases; so, for example, if you buy five DLC map packs, you fill out the Map Pack Punchard and get 5,000 points.
All of these points – or “credits” as Microsoft refers to them – equate to real money, at a conversation rate of $1 for every 1,000 points. You can see a full rundown of rewards laid on the MyRewards page; simply head to rewards.xbox.com, sign in to your Xbox profile, and click the MyRewards tab.
It’s really not too different from Xbox Live Rewards as it existed before. The new face of the program simply feels a little more gamified, with features bearing names like “MyMissions” giving gamers a more familiar point of contact than they previously had.