Microsoft Store Reveals Xbox One Pre-Order Extras

Xbox One owners who pre-order copies of upcoming games like Sunset Overdrive, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and even Lego Batman 3 will get some exclusive extras and credit to go along with their new game.

Microsoft announced a slate of new Xbox One deals earlier today in a post on its Xbox Wire news blog. These new deals closely tie to parts of Microsoft’s ecosystems, its retail stores and Xbox Live Rewards. Xbox Live Rewards is the membership program that Microsoft originally revealed to boost participation across video games and video for the Xbox 360. The company revamped Xbox Live Rewards just a few weeks ago.

These new deals mean that users who order an Xbox 360 or Xbox One game before it’s released from Microsoft’s retail store gets 15,000 in credits applied to their Xbox Rewards account. That works out to be $15 in Xbox Store credit for users to purchase games, music or videos. Microsoft is careful to note that this $15 in Xbox Rewards points is in addition to the $10 Xbox Store gift card that the Microsoft Store gives users who pre-order for games already.

Update Microsoft representatives have written to GottaBeMobile to clarify the deal. According to company representatives, the two offers aren’t stackable so Xbox Live Rewards users stand to make the most from the offers at $15. Buyers without Xbox Live Rewards stand to pick up just the $10.

All told, users who pre-order games form the Microsoft Store stand to get $25 in credit to use on anything they want in Microsoft’s online digital-goods store. That’s enough for big savings on downloadable content like a game’s season pass. Season passes allow buyers to get all of a game’s upcoming content for one flat price. Effectively, Microsoft Store buyers stand to get high-profile games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and more.

In addition to this $ 25 in store credit, Microsoft is also offering extra content to users who pre-order certain games from the Microsoft Store.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection buyers get a special license plate frame that says “My Other Car is a Warthog.” Buyers also get an in-game skull that increases the blast radius of explosions in Halo 2: Anniversary. Halo 2: Anniversary is the Halo 2 high-definition remake included in The Master Chief Collection. A window sticker is also included with the pre-order.

Sunset Overdrive buyers won’t get any physical extras but will get some in-game rewards. Users will get some extra weapons.

All told, these new deals are pretty good – provided users are fine with paying full price for a game in exchange for getting credit back. That’s key since the credit that users are getting back can’t be used anywhere but Microsoft’s digital store. To take advantage of this deal users do need to jump through a few hoops. First, they’ll need to login with the email and password they use for Xbox Live at Xbox Rewards. Second, they’ll need to make sure that they purchase their games from the Microsoft Store using that same email and password. Microsoft says that the deal is good for up to three games on a single pre-order.

Users planning on picking up games this holiday season should definitely keep this deal in mind. Combined with a few other deals like the free Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare upgrade offer, it’s an easy way to save cash on games this holiday season. Before taking advantage of this deal, it’s important to note that this deal is only for buyers purchasing physical copies of games this holiday season. These aren’t codes for digital downloads. On the plus side, this means users can trade in the games later and make money back on them. That also means users won’t get to take advantage of the digital games features that the Xbox One offers. For example, digital games travel with user’s accounts and can be played without a disc on any Xbox One that had an internet connection.