Xbox Live Rewards pilot program launches, gives points for purchases

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 3rd 2009 at 2:20PM }

A number of Xbox Live subscribers recently received invitations to a promising pilot program which grants them bonuses for a number of their usual online activities. Earlier today, Microsoft revealed exactly how the six-month trial program, which is appropriately titled "Xbox Live Rewards," operates. Basically, users can earn complimentary Microsoft Points by renewing their subscriptions, purchasing Marketplace content, taking part in surveys, or doing a number of other activities which are clearly laid out in this helpful chart.

Okay, so the number of points you can accumulate using the Rewards program isn't really enormous, and according to the invitation's fine print, you can't spend the points you earn until the first three months of the trial are up. Still, you get free Microbucks for doing stuff you'd probably be doing anyways, so it's hard to complain about that. Of course, we know in our hearts that someone out there will find a way.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: microsoft, pilot-program, promotion, rewards, trial, xbox-live, xbox-live-rewards

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:25PM

That's a great idea, and it gives incentive for the people to answer the surveys, now you can all say Live is too expensive so they will lower it to 30 bucks.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:31PM

They're trying to incorporate more benefits for Gold users, such as this and Deal of the Week. I don't imagine they'll lower the price anytime soon.

Dafrety @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:31PM

$30/year I think would be the sweet spot for Xbox Live. I only renew my account when I can find the cards for that price anyway.

Dafrety @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:33PM

@dark_inchworm
Deal of the Week hasn't been a deal for awhile. I got Braid and a PGR4 car pack through it and that was it, I think.

WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:38PM

I'm planing to finally get online to my 360 this November and I'll be taking my time filling those surveys to ensure they give us more for our money and made the service of better quality and free points don't hurt.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:51PM

heh, I didn't say it was necessarily good - though I have bought quite a few featured items - I was just trying to demonstrate that, whether successfully or not, they're attempting to pack more value in rather than lower the cost of the service, and they will probably continue to follow that trend alone.

Martin @ Nov 3rd 2009 5:34PM

With all the deals you can find on sub cards, you shouldn't be paying more than $30 a year anyway.

PedoJokerBear [Planeteer | Power of Gall Bladder] @ Nov 3rd 2009 6:18PM

i pay 34 a year for xbox live, thanks to black friday deals.

tokyodeathgod @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:27PM

how bout 1 years =(

Ryan @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:34PM

200 MSP, take a look at the chart.

NaeemTHM @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:30PM

I have a better idea, MAKE THIS SHIT FREE.

I used to be content with paying for Live because it was soooooo much better than PSN. But now...honestly, what am I paying for? PSN just as good as Live (ok pretty damn close) and I don't have to pay a dime.

Kizzle @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:34PM

No it isn't.

deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:37PM

"Of course, we know in our hearts that someone out there will find a way."

That didn't take long at all

WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:40PM

I got a question, does PS3 users get Qore for free? ( the show with the super cute chick)

melloncollie @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:41PM

PSN is nowhere as good as Live. I'm fine with paying for Live so long as it continues to be a reliable and well-maintained service.

CheeziePotato @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:45PM

I've said this before and I'll say it again, STOP COMPARING XBL TO PSN!!!
Both services are on different consoles, so they don't need to be compared.

Kyle Kalman @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:47PM

You just might be retarded.

NaeemTHM @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:49PM

@Kizzle

If you can tell me why Live is better it will put my wallet at ease.

@CheeziePotato

But they are similar. On Live I can download games, play my friends, and try demos just like I can on PSN...yet I have to pay for some odd reason.

Gentlemen, I'm not in anyway trying to start a Live vs PSN thread here; I'm simply questioning Microsoft's decision to charge for a service that's nearly identical for free on another video game system.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:55PM

WINter....Qore is a MAGAZINE!!!

Who Gets a Magazine subscription for free!?!?

you can't even put that in there at all because XBL is NOT a damn Magazine....nor do you GET one....

WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:59PM

I though Qore was a PSN show.

CheeziePotato @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:03PM

@Chris D.
Qore isn't a magazine, it's a PSN show.

dogmaticatheist @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:10PM

XBL has two things over PSN right now.

1) Party chat.

2) Cross game invites.

It's rumored that party chat is coming to PS3 with a future firmware update.

At that point, cross game invites isn't worth $50/year. In fact, cross game invites and party chat aren't worth $50/year, either.

Technically PS3 has party chat already but not in game.

NaeemTHM @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:23PM

@dogmatic

I appreciate your answer. It's nice to know some people will respond without hostility or calling me a retard.

Since I play both consoles I don't see everything as black and white as some of the folks here. Though that certainly has it's disadvantages when you're trying to have an honest conversation. People expect you to pick a side, you know?

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:56PM

Qore IS a Digital Magazine.....PULSE is a PSN Show...the Shows that are in Home are PSN Shows...Qore is a Magazine, that has bonus content such as games and Beta access

eNrique @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:56PM

You can do cross game invites on PSN, and in my opinion games like RE5 does them better than live, easier and faster because of the XMB.
Also, QORE is totally out of the picture, anyway, you can get Pulse for free.

And PSN doesn't have ads, and it haven't passed through something like this
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/xbox-live-outage-day-13-still-up-and-down-still-preventing-fu/

*gets downvoted*

philmcphail @ Nov 3rd 2009 5:36PM

Naeem I know how you feel. I used to be skeptical about PSN till I got a PS3. Honestly, for basic purposes such as playing online and buying stuff off the Playstation store, it pretty good. Sure you don't get the features party chat and cross game invites but its not like the PSN lags a lot or under performs in any way. But I think the reason most people still stick with XBL is primarily due to the install base and how long its been out. I mean, most of our friends probably have XBL and we probably spent more time in general on XBL (like on gamerscore and such) so we're more dedicated to it.

danthaman15 @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:32PM

I can't help but laugh at the way it goes "SILVER MEMBERS GET! :D" and then shows nada in the pic. At least they get marketplace and survey points.

copa @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:35PM

I don't think they planned to leave the box empty, but they figured out at the last minute that "A Kick In The Nuts!" wouldn't fit cleanly in there.

WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:36PM

Well they are still getting points for using some of the Silver features, Silver member can't get points of renewing Gold because they are Silver, the can't get points for subscribing to Netflix because they can't subscribe to Netflix.

MJGAMING @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:40PM

Are they going to be sending out emails after today or are they only sending the email to the people they have already sent them to? I really would like to be in this preview.

kyle @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:48PM

Sign ups ended like 2 weeks ago.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:53PM

I'm in the program as of yesterday. Just FYI.

Marco le Polo @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:41PM

"Of course, we know in our hearts that someone out there will find a way."

Waaait for it....

THE HEAVY @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:43PM

I hope they are retroactive. lol

whylekat @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:53PM

Whatever happened to that xbox diamond rewards card?

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Nov 3rd 2009 2:59PM

It still exists, but it's rarely spoken of and now you pay $6.95 for it. The deals appear to be better than before, but I would certainly hope so given that it isn't free anymore. Can't find whether it's a one-time payment or recurring.

I still enjoy sporting my old Diamond card, whether it does me any good or not.

iTzDaKroniK @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:00PM

Yah i remember filling that paperwork out and it said it should be in my mailbox within 8 to 16 weeks and its already on the 90th week WHERES MY DIAMOND CARD Microsoft!

whylekat @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:48PM

I have one collecting dust on my shelf. Never could find any worthwhile deals to use it with. In fact I never found any use for it at all.

Adam @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:08PM

this is my problem with rewards: why not just make it cheaper?

rewards sound better, that's all.

dogmaticatheist @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:13PM

To all the people who think M$ will drop the price of XBL:

No, they won't. Why? Because you are still paying for it. It's very simple economics. Don't bring up the cheap deals at Amazon, either, because Joe user is just going to shell out $50 and not bother looking online for a cheaper price.

Dreaded Fear @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:16PM

I love how that picture shows that silver members get nothing. Microsoft is always trying to find a way to make Silver members feel like crap.

ChomskyKnows @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:35PM

They should put a goose egg in there to fill in that dead space...

Frenzy @ Nov 3rd 2009 4:14PM

The first thee and the sixth rows are blank for Silver because they have to do with becoming Gold members (thus you won't be a silver member for awhile). Seems to be like a credit card cash back or Best Buy Rewards program where you spend money to get a little of it back.

The Make Your First Purchase on Xbox Marketplace is open to both, but you have to spend money (i.e. points) anyway to get them, and it's only good for one time.

Granted, MS could have come up with more ways to get points, regardless of gold/silver status. The blurb at the top of the Xbox Reward Center homepage hypes it up a bit much, IMO.

I'd say none of it bothers me, but then, I took the time to post this, so...you know...

Gamer4Life @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:26PM

I'm all for this, SOME people complain what do you get for a gold subscription, besides what we're already getting MS is offering even more now.

Skizz @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:30PM

don't lie to yourself guys we all don't want to have to pay for live and acting like it isn't that bad is just kidding ourselves, we should continue to voice how annoying it is when the other guys have it for free... and maybe they will stop charging for it. So i think we should stop "acting" like it's not that big of a deal.

Firgus @ Nov 9th 2009 10:31AM

I agree. I ran into 3 "problems" with my Xbox.
1- I've got an earlier model that had a fairly small hard drive and purchasing a new one would cost 150$ (way overpriced). 2- I ran a cat5 cable from my router to the living room so I could connect my Xbox but it's kinda in the way. Purchasing the wireless adapter would cost 100$ (way overpriced again). 3- My yearly Xbox gold account was about to expire and since I don't game exclusively on my Xbox I didn't feel like spending another 50$ for a year's subscription but now I can't play online.
Total cost to fix these "problems" that my Xbox has: 300$. A brand new PS3 with build in wifi and a 120 Gig HD: 300$. Problems solved. I call that speaking with my wallet.

Unpure Saiyan @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:35PM

Is it pricey? That's arguable. Have they delivered? You betcha.

RedSonRising @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:40PM

so sign ups were/are invite only? im disappointed that i never got an invitation to the rewards program but i cant find a signup link anywhere on googles first few pages. any suggestions?

JH @ Nov 3rd 2009 3:42PM

I am part of the XBOX Live Rewards Pilot program. For the record, 60,000 XBOX Live members were asked to participate. Since XBOX Live has over 20 million users, as you can see a very small percentage were invited into the program. Everyone who is received an email the other day saying they received 100 marketplace points in their account for participating. I didn't, even though I have about 16,000 marketplace points already on my acccount. Yes, 16,000, which will probably take me years to use, but I didn't pay anything for them so I can't complain about 100 points not being added. But it appears there is already a hiccup with their system since the 100 weren't added. Hopefully others received their points though.