
If you're an avid Microsoft Rewards user, you've probably come across the "auto redeem" feature for Xbox and PC Game Pass at some point - a useful method for keeping your membership active without spending much (or anything at all!).
Unfortunately though, some Microsoft Rewards members have been receiving emails indicating a price increase could be on the way soon, and it most likely will affect more than just "auto redeem" users. The email that members have been getting suggests the price increase will occur around April 20, 2025 - it mentions that the current auto redeem options will be getting replaced, so anyone who uses them will have to re-subscribe to the new version(s) on that date.
Before we get into any further explanations, here's a quick snapshot of the email that's going around:

Taking a look at the "redeem" section of Microsoft Rewards here in the UK, the current method of redeeming a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 12k points and PC Game Pass for 7.75k points is still available as part of the "auto redeem" feature, but there are two new versions that have just appeared for 17k and 10.5k points respectively.
So, the TL;DR is that here in the UK, it looks like 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be increasing from 12k points to 17k points, while 1 month of PC Game Pass will jump from 7.75k points to 10.5k points. We're guessing the non-auto redeem versions will increase to at least 17k and 10.5k points in late April as part of this.
Note: The points totals mentioned above are exclusive to 'Level 2' members - they cost is slightly higher for Level 1 members. Level 2 basically means you get a bigger discount by engaging with the service more. It's confusing, we know!

Obviously all of this is region-dependent and it may not affect your region, but it seems at first glance to be pretty widespread. If these are indeed the new prices, it's a blow for "auto redeem" users in particular as 17k points is extremely tough to achieve in a month as things stand - in fact, we're not entirely sure it can be done at all right now!
Fingers crossed we get more clarification around all of this very soon - we'll let you know if and when that happens.
What do you make of this potential Microsoft Rewards price increase? Tell us down in the comments below.
Comments 53
Ouch! Haha. Can't complain myself I haven't paid for GPU in years thanks to this rewards program. I'll probably have to alternate from paying a month, earning a month, paying a month, earning a month etc...
All part of closing the loop holes with getting the service cheap/free.
The question then becomes, how many of those using those loop holes convert over to paying. Will be interesting to see - assuming we get any numbers from MS that is!
Sucks, but was always going to happen eventually.
If you have points to spend. Buy the 3month for 35k while it’s there. I got them yesterday still.
That’s going to hit 50k for 3months (if it sticks to current formula).
Point farming is pretty much well gone now. I think we will see conversion trick finish tgis year. And I predict a price rise by end of June.
That’s a big increase. 17k is nearly all the points I make in a month.
Price hike incoming.
I get my GPU with the conversion trick which is still a great deal, and use my points on buying games. This change makes it even more of an obvious choice
@Kaloudz I've been lucky as I managed to get two years ahead, then with my EE Broadband I get a years worth free evey other year.
while I absolutely agree you should use every loophole, i never understand when people sing about the value of gamepass when they aren't even paying for it. Of course it's good value if it's free, but I kinda think it's part of the bigger problem.
@Weebleman once all loop holes are closed and the price is stabilized, value proposition is gonna sit a bit differently with many a fans.
I understand the allure of an all access, Day One game subscription service, but it doesn’t check with reality. The amount I spend on purchasing licenses on a yearly basis to “own” the games in my library is less than a year of the Standard subscription.
Of course, I have a massive backlog, don’t suffer from FOMO and prefer building my library through sales than renting games. And time. There just isn’t enough time for it to ever be a value.
And if you’re “gaming” the system, that’s fine…I do something similar with my meal delivery plans so I get discounted boxes every delivery. But that isn't really supporting the service, now is it?
That would effectively end the rewards program for me. Now the question is, is an Xbox plus buying GamePass still worth it compared to buying the games I want on PS.
Huh I was told Game Pass is great and not at all killing MS off.
Guess I was always right.
17k would be a MASSIVE 41% price hike to Game Pass Ultimate via Rewards, that sucks.
MS Rewards in general have been on a massive downward trend for years with them taking more time to get less points and now the points are worth less. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze anymore for me. A shame, it was good while it lasted.
Have spent all mine at the lower rate and am stacked for 3 years GP Ult though.
Stopped using Game Pass Ultimate since the first butchering of the rewards program and haven't missed it in the least. Won't pay for Core as it's a massive scam for someone who owns all the old and cheap games it offers, effectively making it $60 for online and nothing else. I'll gladly buy the MCC again on PS5 to play it online as PS Plus is amazing compared to Core.
@Cikajovazmaj @Weebleman I agree. On average I’ve paid around £5 a month for Ultimate the last 5+ years through cheap codes and MS rewards. It’s going to be a big change to pay full price.
That said I still think £15 a month is still excellent value for how much I use it (I play 20+ Game Pass games a year) but as I’m stocked to 2028 it will likely be more expensive by then, probably £20 a month.
Rewards never existed in my region so nothing lost here.
@themightyant oh there's no denying the value if you use GP a lot, even at full price. It just makes me chuckle when the more feral of supporters don't give them any money for it.
Well I’m stacked until March 2027 for £11.99 GPU so I can’t complain.
I have my reward points set on £5 auto redeem.
Ughh 17k points for a month is crazy!
I have GPU, @themightyant, but very rarely play anything on it. Am The only thing I really use it for is to play Gears 5 Horde with my mates. Am I right in thinking that if I play through my PC that I don't need any sort of Game Pass? I would still be able to play with them and also speak to them if I did not have GPU at all?
I just save up for games with reward points so I'm not effected by this🙆
They better buy more ip to have on gamepas
Considering these are just 'points' you can earn for doing very little - even just playing a game can 'reward' you with points - I don't really see an issue. Points don't have any 'real' monetary value and are more of a 'gift' for interacting so that people can exchange those for GPU, Gift vouchers and a whole host of other things to get them 'free' - at 'no' cost to you.
I personally save my points up so that I can exchange them for Gift Vouchers to buy Games or Content. I see it as a 'Reward' for interacting with MS/Xbox and a 'bonus' - not something to rely upon and expect to pay for my Gaming. If I thought I can't pay my Sub fee for GPU that month, I'd maybe consider using points, but I'd rather use them for Ad Hoc Game Sales that I hadn't budgetted for.
I have my rewards auto redeem for a $10 Xbox store card every month. I play a lot of cheap, casual games so I can usually get a game or two with it each month.
Ultimate went up to 14000 a few months ago and then went back down to 12000. And now it's going back up again? That's so strange. I have enough points to get ultimate now, but I won't use it yet, so I'm going to save my points until I know I'm going to use it.
How the eff are you guys getting enough points to buy a single month of gp, let alone keep it going? I just checked my balance as I've never spent.... 1300 pts. Also seems like I'm the only rube actually paying for game pass round here.
@Medic_alert it is not a loop hole lol
@MonsterMike you can spend quite a length of time each and every day to complete the quests to get points - it used to be very quick but it now takes far longer - and you can get ‘streaks’ to increase the rewards.
But nowadays and with the price increase it’s honestly not worth the time
@cornholio005 no need to be a pedant, let's say offer then. The point is they are closing off ways to not pay full price.
I guess instead of spending points for gamepass, it'll probably be better to save them to redeem money and purchase the games you really want instead.
Also, you guys still get the option to redeem for just 1 month? They took that away from us a couple months ago.
@lacerz 2 things
First, I also get discounted meal delivery boxes for my family every week, lol.
2nd, and this isn't discussed enough: if you are a coop first gamer like myself, having a shared library with your group of friends is incredible. I do not miss the days of having a game you want to play, bringing to everyone like some kind of tribunal to decide if the game is good enough for each person to spend the 50 bucks or whatever. Over, and over, and over every time it's time for a new game. We still buy games at full price sometimes, like we will probably buy Monster Hunter and Nightreign this year. But for the most part, we play stuff on gamepass, which there is a ton of. Lately we've been doing For the King 2, which I would have been a tough sell of it wasn't on gamepass.
If I just played single player games, I unironically think Gamefly would be a better deal for me, yes in 2025.
@MonsterMike I just do daily stuff in bing app, gets about 4k points per month on average. Bit more during the times I have GPU.
This devaluing of the rewards system though, I am not a big fan of. Especially when it's such a big swing. Any indication of it'll affect the Xbox voucher amounts anyone? (That's what I tend to use them for anyway)
Lmao!
Said for years now, game pass is not sustainable business model. Not at all. Look for it to be $50 a month in year or so.
Guess it really is the "Netflix of gaming" raising prices every couple months. Just like Netflix lol
They do it all the time I usually get money off games with my points and that keeps going up Microsoft does not care it wants to make money that's why it's porting its games to PlayStation
If "anything is an xbox," and all games going "multiplat is good for gamers," when do we existing game pass/series x|s owning users get to see some benefits?
Not what I like to hear. I was planning on making a video on how to get free Game Pass 😢
@Th3_Highlander Wait, EE do it? I've been with EE (mobile contract) for 10 years lol. I better check if I can get in on the action!
@Fiendish-Beaver if you very rarely use it, drop it, or maybe just subscribe every few months whenever there is a game you want to play.
As for PC yes you don’t need Game Pass to play online v people on Xbox. I’ve never done voice chat Xbox to Pc so someone else would have to confirm. Or perhaps let it lapse and you can see for yourself. You can always resubscribe.
$30/mo for Gamepass, Core up to $100/yr?
This is unfortunate to see. I've definitely milked the rewards program for years now to get "free" gamepass. Hopefully they introduce some new earning methods with this change. With everything going to the other box at this point not sure it's worth paying money for me personally.
Cool. Thank you, @themightyant. Unfortunately, I stacked 3 years of GPU two years ago, when I thought the Service was offering better value, so for the time being I will carry on with my Xbox console.
As you will know by now, I am very undecided regarding whether I should get the next Xbox, and being able to game online without need of Game Pass is definitely a positive when it comes to gaming on a PC. The only issue there though is that I very much dislike the faff that often comes with gaming on a PC compared to the simplicity of gaming on a console. That, and you still need to upgrade parts on a PC, often with parts that cost as much as the current consoles! Plus, I know me! I like to have the latest tech, and just know that I will only end up with FOMO if I don't buy the Prime. I think the truth is that Microsoft are going to have to go some in order to persuade me to buy the Prime as not only do I fear for the future of Xbox, and thus am not sure that it will be a worthwhile investment of my limited funds, but also I am very content with my Series X. Time will tell, I guess. It might even be a case of not pre-ordering the console, and waiting instead to see what the tech guys at Digital Foundry...
The reward points are free, but your time isn't. This scheme isn't worth the effort, and hasn't been for a while now.
Not all that concerned here. Currently I do essentially nothing and get 3 months free for every 1 month I pay. Now that will be a 3:2 ratio assuming its 50k points now.
I was fine paying every month before because I use the service and see value in it. That hasnt changed.
In Canada there was already a bump in the point cost for Ultimate and possibly Standard. The only "deal" has been the point cost for a Xbox $5 store card.
First Nintendo killing gold points! Then I noticed over the past year or so Microsoft has become very cheap with their points be it doing the exercises and making game purchases. I used to average a $25 gift card every 2 months- now even with the same activity, I haven’t redeemed one since October- close but not yet. Less points being awarded for game purchases for certain! Boooo!
At this point my estimation of game pass as a service has plummeted, terrible day one games, always adding old games most people already own , keep making it more expensive that's on top of making Xbox obsolete as a platform , sweepstakes you never win.
There is no value in the service anymore, Philly needs to GO!
I am tempted to add to my GPU subscription before more points price inflation, but the reality is I also need a break from GPU to catch up on my backlog of games that I can't catch up on when I'm trying to get value from GPU by playing those games.
@Ricky-Spanish same here, I use rewards points for buying non-GamePass games. I fund Game Pass via the Gold-to-GamePass conversion offer. I’m about to preorder Split Fiction and reserving a stash of points for the Lies of P: Overture DLC.
@GoldenPants ah that’s the main issue with Game Pass - time itself! Or lack of it to be specific. Game Pass is competing with the backlog. I haven’t touched a single Game Pass game since October, not because there’s nothing I want to play, but simply because I’m just too preoccupied with trying to shrink my backlog currently.
I just spend my points redeemed for bucks to buy games that i really will play for long time. Im already buy assassins creed mirage, metro, alan wake 2, splinter cell blacklist, assassins creed origins, odissey, chernobylite, ghost recon breakpoint and some others andni have to spend on 3 more big games releasing next months
@Kaloudz Depending on your mobile contract they also do Game Pass as a free add-on, but I dropped down to a sim only contract.
@Th3_Highlander Sadly I'm on SIM only until the end of the year too lol. Ah well, thanks for letting me know all the same
Is the conversion method still available guys. Was 2 yrs for 3 last time i used it. Is it still the same ?
Cheers
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