Xbox Live Microsoft Points

Microsoft Points are the coin of the Xbox Live Marketplace realm. Microsoft Points is a universal system that works across international borders, and is even available if you don't have a credit card. Here's how they work.

How Do I Get Points?

Microsoft Points let everyone in on the Xbox Live Marketplace action. First, though, you need to get some. Purchasing Points is like putting money into a special account that you can use on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. It's a simple thing, but it opens up all of the amazing premium content on Xbox Live to a whole new community of gamers.


Why Do I Want to Use Points?

Points let everyone on Xbox LIVE—Silver and Gold members—pick up content to enhance their entertainment experience, opening up the Marketplace to everyone in the world that is connected to Xbox LIVE. But the big deal here is that Points allow what technical types call "micro-transactions."

On the original Xbox LIVE, transactions had to be around five dollars U.S., the minimum for most credit cards. But with Microsoft Points, the price for most anything—maps, skins, levels, demos, and more—can be much lower than that. That's a big deal. For example, say you want to get one of the new maps for your favorite shooter, but you're not that interested in a few of the others. Lucky for you, Marketplace can offer each map individually for just a few points. Now that's savings.

What Else Can I Get With Points?

Points can get you more than just maps and other multiplayer-focused features. For example, some games offer individual pieces of equipment, weapons, and other goodies that you can redeem Points for in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, even though it may be an offline, single-player game.

You can even find games created by other Xbox LIVE users in the Community Games section. Check out the free demo, and if if you like the game, you can buy it for just a few hundred points.

Finally, you can use Points to rent hundreds of movies or buy hundreds of TV shows on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.