Microsoft Rewards is getting a thorough revision in May, and it doesn’t seem to be a net positive for the end users. Microsoft Rewards began its life as Bing Rewards, only for it to be rebranded and later merged with Xbox Live Rewards in 2016 and 2018, respectively. It has gone through a number of revisions and changes over its lifetime, and more are yet to come.
One of the more unpopular changes to the service was when Microsoft Rewards increased the points needed to redeem Xbox gift cards in late February 2025. As users can earn points simply by interacting with Rewards and completing the tasks it offers, the relative value of its redeemable goodies has always been in contention, which naturally makes users frustrated with the service.
Microsoft Rewards Update Adds Helpful New Feature
A new change in Microsoft Rewards introduced in the recent console update could be very helpful for Xbox gamers who use the service often.
Microsoft Rewards is Getting Big Changes in May 2026, But Early Adopters Don’t Like The Rework
Though many users think Microsoft Rewards got worse in February 2026, that doesn’t appear to have been the last of the changes coming to the service just yet. The biggest featured change coming in May is the membership level rework, with there being three tiers to choose from: Member, Silver, and Gold. The daily earning cap for these new tiers will be 15, 30, and 60 points, respectively. The rework pop-up promises the ability to “earn up to 7x points with Gold status,” as well as more ways to earn points in general. The vague promises of the service being better may well be done away with by its early adopters, however. Microsoft has been testing this revised version of Rewards in New Zealand, Colombia, India, Canada, and several other regions, and it’s not looking great.
User reports suggest that Microsoft is now in the process of rolling out the Rewards update to eligible European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, the UK, and potentially others. While it’s still too early to say whether this is one of Microsoft’s worst Xbox Series X|S era decisions, the rework appears to be an overall nerf to the users’ ability to score points. The daily maximum has dropped from 150 points down to 60, with an up to 2100-point bonus pool that seems to be a non-starter for most.
It’s important to note that some of the earliest adopters of the new system, namely the users from New Zealand and other such territories, appear to mostly dislike it. All of Microsoft Rewards’ best point purchases are very expensive, and the new system appears to result in greatly reduced point-earning opportunities across the board. Packaging it up as a net positive will be challenging for Microsoft.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
EasyMediumHard
It’s clear by now that Microsoft is going through a substantial shake-up of almost all of its user-facing services. Even Xbox’s approach to exclusives is being reconsidered, according to insiders. Pivoting back towards console-exclusive games would be a comprehensive revision of all the brand’s more recent operations, and suggest even greater changes may be ahead for Xbox and Microsoft at large.
