Rewards with Xbox Program Expands With New PC Game Pass Quests and More

Microsoft is kicking off the new year with some big changes to its Rewards with Xbox program, including new quests for PC Game Pass members. The company is also expanding Game Pass Quests to Japan and adding new ways to earn rewards for players without a Game Pass subscription.

With Rewards with Xbox, console and PC players can earn Microsoft Rewards points by playing games. These points can be turned into Microsoft Store gift cards, Game Pass subscriptions, Spotify gift cards, and more. As of today, this gamification system is more visible on consoles with a dedicated Rewards hub, but PC players could already earn up to 250 Rewards points every week by playing a PC game for 15 minutes on five different days.

Starting tomorrow, January 7, PC Game Pass members will have new exclusive quests, which will be visible on the Xbox app for PC, the Xbox mobile apps, and the Rewards hub on Xbox consoles. “As part of these changes, minimum playtime is required to earn points through gameplay. For now, Quests are only available for titles in the Game Pass catalog, and this does not include PC games that require third party launchers or are played on Battle.net,” the Xbox team explained today.

Microsoft is also revamping weekly streaks and introducing new monthly Game Pass quests starting tomorrow. Players will be rewarded for playing up to eight different Game Pass games for at least 15 minutes each every calendar month. Microsoft will also still reward players with 10 points a day if they play any Game Pass game for at least 15 minutes.

Regarding weekly streaks, players will still be required to play for at least five days a week to complete their streaks, but the Console Weekly Bonus has been reduced from 250 to 150 points. However, players will now be able to earn up to 4x points by maintaining their streak week over week. “A 2-week streak will earn 2x the base streak points, a 3-week streak will earn 3x the base streak points, and anything beyond a 4-week streak will earn 4x the base streak points,” the Xbox team explained.

Lastly, Microsoft will now allow PC gamers without a Game Pass subscription to earn the new PC Weekly Bonus when playing an Xbox-enabled PC game for at least 15 minutes for 5 days or more. Just like the Console weekly bonus, the PC weekly bonus has also been reduced to 150 points.

One additional note about the Rewards with Xbox Program: It’s now only available to players who are 18 years old or older. Players under 18 will lose access to the Rewards Hub, but that won’t impact existing Rewards and points they previously earned.