If you’ve been using Microsoft Rewards to keep your Xbox Game Pass subscription going, bad news—it’s about to cost you a lot more. Microsoft is raising the points required to redeem Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and the increase isn’t small.
From April 20, 2025, the cost of redeeming a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription via Microsoft Rewards will jump from 12,000 to 17,000 points, a 41% increase. Meanwhile, PC Game Pass is also going up, rising from 7,750 to 10,500 points. For anyone relying on Rewards to avoid paying out of pocket, this makes it significantly harder to maintain a subscription.
For years, Microsoft Rewards has been a great way for Xbox Game Pass users to keep their membership without actually spending money. By completing daily challenges, earning points from Bing searches, and engaging with Xbox content, dedicated players could stack up enough rewards to cover their subscription.
Now, with the new pricing, it’s going to take a lot more effort to keep Game Pass running for free. Some users are already saying they may have to cut down on gaming time just to grind Rewards points, while others see this as another quiet price hike from Microsoft, following last year’s Game Pass Ultimate price increase to $16.99 per month.
This change stings. Microsoft Rewards was a lifeline for players who didn’t want to keep spending on subscriptions, and it genuinely felt like a win-win system. The company got engagement, and in return, we got free Game Pass—but now, the balance is shifting.
Let’s be honest: if Microsoft is making it harder to use Rewards for Game Pass, it’s probably because too many people were doing exactly that. But increasing the cost by 41% overnight feels excessive. Earning 17,000 points a month is no small feat, even for those who religiously complete Rewards challenges.
I’ve seen some Xbox players say they might just let their subscription lapse, while others are considering dropping to Game Pass Core, which is cheaper but only includes a limited game library. Some are even wondering if this is a sign that more price hikes are coming, since Microsoft hasn’t exactly been shy about making changes to the service lately.
For now, there’s no change to standard Game Pass pricing—only the Microsoft Rewards redemption system is affected. But if this goes the way of past subscription increases, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more tweaks down the line.
If you’re someone who relies on Microsoft Rewards, now might be the time to stockpile points before the price increase kicks in. Otherwise, it looks like free Game Pass is about to become a lot harder to maintain.