Several Xbox users were recently surprised by the addition of fresh gift cards to their accounts, following a related promotion back in December 2025. This unexpected bonus isn’t actually the first of its kind, as Xbox is developing something of an interesting reputation for sending out these freebies to its customers.
For example, a number of Xbox users in December 2024 reported receiving unexpected messages from the official Xbox account on the platform’s messaging application, informing them that they could redeem a $5 gift card in honor of The Countdown Sale. Just a few months later, Xbox did almost the exact same thing, issuing $5 gift cards, seemingly at random, during the 2025 Spring Sale this past April. This amount was doubled during a similar promotion in December 2025, when, once again, apparently random Xbox players received $10 gift cards in the midst of the expected holiday sales. Worth noting is that these freebies haven’t been limited to Xbox console users: regular users of Xbox’s PC client have reported getting digital gift cards as well.
Unfortunately, these gift cards all had tight redemption deadlines: if someone missed December 2025’s gift card message, they probably won’t be able to redeem it anymore.
History of Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes Explained
To the chagrin of subscribers, Xbox Game Pass is increasing its cost once again, and it’s far from the first time the service has seen a price hike.
How Are People Getting Free Xbox Gift Cards in January 2026?
As pointed out by Pure Xbox, Microsoft users may be subject to yet another generous digital promotion this January, though not exactly for the reasons listed above. Rather than being related to sales or in-store promotions, several Xbox users have gotten $5 virtual gift cards as a result of purchasing EA Sports or 2K Sports games in December 2025. This isn’t exactly a huge shock, as the conditions of this special offer were communicated during the Xbox Countdown Sale, when this particular promotion began.
But what’s interesting is that, according to Pure Xbox, it’s possible that Xbox gamers could be getting these gift cards without the prerequisite purchase of a 2K or EA Sports title. Indeed, Pure Xbox claims that they were a lucky recipient of this $5 promo, despite not having purchased the aforementioned titles in December.
What’s the Best Way to Get Free Xbox Gift Cards?
Pure Xbox speculates that the $5 gift card they most recently received could have been a result of their Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, a sort of “thank you” from Microsoft for his patronage. This isn’t the most unreasonable theory. After all, Xbox Game Pass is becoming more of a perk-based service, branching out into other selling points beyond its core games-on-demand offerings. Maybe these random surprise gifts are meant to further incentivize Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate memberships.
Unfortunately, Xbox hasn’t been transparent about this process. Again, the sales-related gift cards seem to be handed out randomly, with little to no official word about them from Xbox itself. Since virtually all reports of free gift card messages are anecdotal, they are difficult to analyze: variables like Game Pass membership, playtime, and buying habits could all potentially influence who gets these gift cards, but it’s impossible to know for certain at this point. However, these reports have come from across the globe, indicating that Xbox is casting a wide net with its generosity. Therefore, avid Xbox users would be wise to continuously monitor their inboxes, and keep their ears to the ground.
Source: Pure Xbox
