While many users rushed to pre-order Grand Theft Auto VI the very second those pre-orders opened up, it wasn’t the move taken by all.
Reddit user Financial_Specific24, for example, played a longer game and ended up nabbing GTA VI: Ultimate Edition for free on Xbox.
And while it’s not a method you’re going to be able to emulate quickly, it does prove that there are still ways you can make huge savings within gaming at a time when the price of everything, from subscriptions to consoles, seems to be going up.
Financial_Specific24 was able to make a massive saving of $99.99 by using an official Xbox Mastercard, which essentially allows you to save rewards points, similarly to Microsoft Rewards.
It goes without saying that the Xbox Mastercard isn’t a gimmick; it’s a very real credit card, so it’s not something to consider using if it’s going to jeopardise or complicate managing your finances.
If you do want to consider it, however, it offers 5x card points on eligible products when used for purchases on the digital Microsoft Store, 3x card points on eligible streaming services (including Netflix, Disney Plus, and Spotify), 3x card points on eligible dining delivery services, and 1x card points on everyday purchases.
Financial_Specific24 made use of that first benefit, stacking up points from those digital Microsoft / Xbox purchases which, notably, include the cost of subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass.
The user needed 9,999 points in order to get GTA VI: Ultimate Edition for free and they claim that their Game Pass Ultimate subscription alone earned them 100 points a month.
“It gives you 5x points on all Microsoft Store purchases and subscriptions. I have my Ultimate being renewed every month, plus earning me over 100 points each time. Plus I think when I got it they had an offer to get 5 to 8k rewards points if I spent only like $300 in the first six months,” Financial_Specific24 said.
That latter offer varies. At the moment, correct at the time of writing, you can bag $60 worth of points after your first purchase with the card.
You can achieve the same end result with Microsoft Rewards, if you’re patient enough
The OP isn’t the only one who thought ahead.
“If you have the points, you might as well use them! I also pre-ordered the GTA VI Ultimate Edition day one for my Series X using 100,000 Microsoft points,” added ExecutiveDan.
Others struggled to see how you can save so many points even without the Xbox Mastercard.
“If you have Ultimate and do all the Game Pass quests and Bing rewards daily you make up to 10k+ a month of points assuming also you have the 4x multiplier for Game Pass,” Erbee explained.
The Xbox Mastercard is only available in the United States, but Microsoft Rewards is, of course, available worldwide as a free and safe alternative.
It goes without saying that if you want to nab GTA VIfor free, or any other AAA titles for that matter, you’re going to have to save for quite a long time.
There are over two months to go until launch, though, so you could at least secure yourself a respectable discount if you save and earn as many points as you can between now and November 19
There’s no such way to nab a similar saving on PlayStation, with the disappointing PlayStation Stars having shut down beginning May 2025 after its very brief tenure.
Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
