Xbox isn’t afraid of giving players extra incentives to get involved with their flagship titles, occasionally offering up gift cards for their platform’s digital store, usually for hitting a relatively easy set of requirements. While this is often tied to sales, there are other times where the company is simply hoping to boost the player numbers for a game, or increase sales on the microtransactions within it.
One of those is seemingly happening right now, with many players reporting that they have been offered gift cards tied to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. The whole thing is fairly confusing though, so here’s everything the community has managed to glean so far about what it’s all about, and how to make sure you get it.
As first reported by PureXbox, Xbox fans have been receiving messages offering them $5 gift cards for “participating in the Black Ops 7 campaign.” While that all sounds fairly plain and simple, this bizarrely doesn’t mean that you’ll be given the reward for playing through the game’s (average) single-player campaign.
Instead, it seems that campaign in this context simply refers to the push to get players to log in and play the game, with double XP on offer alongside the remuneration. In fact, it seems as though the rewards are unlocked by purchasing one of Black Ops 7′s ‘BlackCell’ battle passes, which are the hyper-premium version of the usual progression rewards track.
Whilst this obviously isn’t the ideal way to secure store credit, given that it requires you to spend money in the first place, if you were planning on buying the Blackcell pass anyway, you’ll want to make sure you claim what does amount to a freebie.
Xbox players are currently in the feeling out process for new leadership of their platform, with longtime head Phil Spencer being replaced by Asha Sharma earlier this year. Things have already started shifting significantly in that regard, with a significant reduction in the previously exorbitant price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with the caveat that subscribers no longer get Call of Duty on day one.
At the same time, Sharma has also confirmed that she is looking into fan complaints about the lack of exclusive titles available on the platform. Given just how many major studios the company has under their control right now, if Xbox does decide to hit the exclusivity button in a big way, then PlayStation players could miss out on some major games at launch.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
