For the past few years, Microsoft has focused its efforts on bolstering its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Xbox Game Pass is clearly a key pillar of Microsoft's strategy, with the company doing everything it can to make it as appealing as possible to Xbox gamers. This has included crossover deals with other companies to add their own services to Xbox Game Pass, as well as adding all of its first-party games to the service on day one of their launch.
At this point, Xbox Game Pass is really a no-brainer for Xbox gamers. However, not all Xbox Game Pass users may be taking full advantage of the service. Not only does it give players access to over 100 games, it also has Xbox Game Pass quests that players can use to earn points that, in turn, can be used to purchase new video games and other prizes. Players can even use it to purchase more Xbox Game Pass, meaning that they may not necessarily have to pay for the service with real money again.
Here is why Xbox Game Pass subscribers should make sure that they are completing the Xbox Game Pass quests each month.
What Are Xbox Game Pass Quests?
Xbox Game Pass quests are added to the service on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Each day, players can complete two quests to play one game through the service and to log in to the mobile app. Weekly quests, meanwhile, challenge players with playing specific games. Sometimes the quests are as simple as starting the game up, but other times they are more specific, tasking players with earning achievements or doing some other thing in the specified game. Monthly quests are a little more time-consuming in-game challenges, and they also reward players for completing as many daily and weekly quests as possible.
The points earned through Xbox Game Pass quests can be turned in for prizes, and can even be converted to money that can be spent on the Xbox Live Marketplace. As previously mentioned, this essentially allows Xbox Game Pass subscribers to keep the service without having to spend anymore of their actual money, assuming they complete enough quests.
Those interested in completing Xbox Game Pass quests, can find them in the Xbox Game Pass hub. Those that want to take full advantage of the Xbox Game Pass quests will want to check them out each day and make sure they're completing all the daily, weekly, and monthly rewards. It's basically free money, especially when the quests are for games that players would be playing anyway.
Microsoft Rewards
Microsoft Rewards is a separate program that Xbox owners can also sign up for that comes with its own set of challenges, rewards, and benefits. Microsoft Rewards sometimes require players to spend money on games, movies, or other items through the Xbox Live Marketplace and elsewhere, but other times players can earn Microsoft Rewards by completing simple tasks. The points that players earn through Microsoft Rewards are the same points that are earned through Xbox Game Pass quests. So anyone that's focusing on one and not the other is failing to maximize the rewards potential.
Some Drawbacks
To earn the most Microsoft Rewards points possible through that program and Xbox Game Pass, users will naturally need to play a lot of games from the service. And until Xbox adds game streaming to consoles, players will have to fully download all of the games that they play. This creates a couple of problems that may keep some Xbox Game Pass subscribers from completing all of the quests.
For one, many Internet users have to deal with data caps that make it so they aren't really able to download many games in any given month. Conflate that with ballooning video game file sizes, and the unfortunate reality is that many people will be stuck paying extra fees whenever they happen to go over their data caps when trying to complete Xbox Game Pass quests, or simply using Xbox Game Pass in general.
Secondly, gamers also have to deal with limited space. Some of the world's most popular games take up a ton of hard drive space, and so while the Xbox Series X has 1 TB of storage, that can fill up fast. The Xbox Series S has even less storage, making it significantly less convenient for those that own that console to complete Xbox Game Pass quests. Of course, Xbox gamers can expand their storage with external hard drives, and those on Xbox Series X and S can purchase SSD expansion cards. But purchasing such things can be pricey, and so many gamers will be stuck with whatever their available internal storage allows.
Considering these drawbacks, those with data caps or limited storage capacity may not be able to take full advantage of Xbox Game Pass quests. However, they can still do enough to get something out of the program, and it's definitely worth a look either way.