Xbox gamers urged to grab free store credit before it's gone

PlayStation Stars, PlayStation’s rewards scheme, may be in the midst of drawing to a close but Microsoft Rewards very much remains active for Xbox users.

In case you missed it, PlayStation Stars has already stopped accepting new members, and existing users can only earn new points and digital collectibles until 23 July.

Users then have until 2 November 2026 to redeem those points, at which point the service will close for good.

It’s a shame as, in my opinion, all consoles should offer a rewards scheme.

Microsoft Rewards is proof of why; it’s served me and thousands of others exceptionally well over the years.

It’s so easy to accrue points, whether via purchases made, Bing searches, or completing daily tasks.

You know the drill by now. Once you’ve got enough points, you can exchange those for store credit amongst other things.

You may prefer to enter giveaways or redeem your points for a virtual scratchcard, or even save up for new hardware.

What you might not know about Microsoft Rewards is that your points will eventually expire, so you don’t want to save up for too long - as one user just found out.

“Just received this email,” wrote Reddit user PythagoreanBeerEm. “I have 170k+ points saved, never been suspended, earn points everyday and last redeemed in February 2025. I didn’t know points expired.”

The accompanying email read as such: “Keep your Rewards points. Your Microsoft Rewards points will expire at the end of the month. To keep your points, redeem for gift cards or complete an offer on your dashboard by the last day of the month. You can also earn points by doing a search with Microsoft Bing.”

Many others shared their confusion as plenty of people have been using this service for years without points expiring.

Well, I have done some digging.

It appears that points only expire if you haven’t completed an activity to earn new points in the last 18 months.

That’s why this email is encouraging the recipient to complete an offer or a Bing search etc.

From the sounds of it though, they haven’t been inactive for that length of time.

With that in mind, I’d highly recommend contacting customer services if you receive this email and it’s not reflective of your situation.

If you are reading this and you have been inactive for a while, be sure to either redeem your points ASAP or complete a quick search to retain your active status.

You wouldn’t want to lose your hard-earned points after all.