To celebrate its 2025 Spring Sale, Microsoft has started sending out free Xbox gift cards to some lucky gamers. Sometimes, game companies offer people cash rewards to entice them to visit an online store or apologize for any inconvenience. And while the amount is usually small, few people will turn their noses up at free money to buy that Xbox game they’ve been eyeing. The changing of the seasons is often a good time to look for big sales in game store windows, and this year Microsoft is discounting over a thousand Xbox games during its Spring Sale. Discounts on some games, like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Deluxe Edition and Batman: Arkham Collection, have reached 75 or even 85%, respectively, GameRant has reported.

Activation code in chat messages

The sale includes both PC and console releases, and many of them are Xbox Play Anywhere games, meaning you only need to purchase them once to use them on both platforms. During the 2025 Spring Sale, many gamers reported receiving a free $5 or $10 gift card. The redemption code can be found by checking the chat messages on your console or in the Xbox app on your phone or computer. The gift card has no restrictions and can be used to purchase games, DLC, apps, and even movies from the Microsoft Store.

Unfortunately, according to posts on Reddit, it doesn’t seem like everyone is receiving the gift card codes, and so far, only US gamers seem to be the recipients of this free offer from Xbox. Just a few months ago, Microsoft did something similar, sending out $5 Xbox gift cards to seemingly random people in honor of Xbox’s 2024 countdown sale.

PlayStation Plus subscribers

Xbox gamers have also received a similar benefit in previous years, so there’s plenty of reason to regularly check the notifications in the Xbox app or on the console, which many gamers ignore because they’re often filled with group spam. Microsoft isn’t the only company to send out surprises to members of its gaming ecosystem. PlayStation Plus subscribers recently received an unexpected compensation, though it was due to a temporary PSN outage in February. In this case, the company simply added five days to people’s PS Plus subscriptions, even though the extension was added in two waves, once in March and again in April. By then, enough time had passed for many members to forget about the network outage altogether.