How to give away Xbox One games

Giving digital games to friends has been a major feature on Steam and other PC gaming clients for years, but console gaming has lagged behind that trend. Thankfully, Microsoft now offers the ability to donate games over Xbox Live. To help you take your next step in gift shopping quickly and easily, here’s how to give gifts to an Xbox One game without ever leaving the comfy couch.

Step 1: Choose the game

You must be signed in to your Xbox One account and have an internet connection to access the store. Move to the store from the control panel (rightmost menu). We recommend that you use the search function to quickly find your upcoming gift.

Step 2: Buy as gifts

Once you’ve stabilized the game, you’ll notice a few options to the right of the purchase screen, each with its own icon. Select the gift card icon with a name Buy as a gift (not a shopping cart icon buying yourself). If you accidentally bought the game for yourself, you can return and correct the error (as long as you haven’t slipped up and played your friend’s gift for more than two hours), but the process is a bit time-consuming.

You should now see two methods for sending the game to your friends on Xbox One: Give it to a friend on Xbox Live and send it to an email address.

Send it to a friend on Xbox Live

The simplest and most accurate method, this top option opens a sidebar with a list of your Xbox Live friends. Scroll down and choose who you are lucky enough to receive a game. If you’re not friends with the intended recipient on Xbox Live, but you know their gamertag, you can choose the “import gamertag” option above your friends list in the sidebar.

However, we recommend that you double-check to make sure you have selected the correct gamertag before submitting.

You will be asked to enter the sender’s name and a gift message after selecting the gamertag card. The default nickname is your gamertag, but you can change it to your real name if you wish.

The last screen asks you to confirm your purchase. Here, you can update your billing information or modify recipients as needed.

When you are satisfied, press Buy as a gift. The recipient will receive an Xbox message on their Live account along with your message and all relevant details, including the option to redeem an instant code.

Send to an email address

If you don’t know the recipient’s gamertag, but you do know their email address, you can select “Enter email address” on the replacement gifting page. The process is almost the same as sending to a specific gamertag but is a bit risky.

Make sure you’re sending the game to the email address that’s connected to the recipient’s Microsoft account, and that it’s spelled correctly. Xbox Live does not verify that the email address you entered is associated with the account, nor does it detect fake ones.

Giving away the Xbox One game on PC

Step 1: If the Xbox Live store is difficult to navigate, you can also buy and give away Xbox One games on your PC. Pass Xbox. Click the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the web page to bring up the search bar.

Step 2: After finding the game, select the dot icon to the right of Buy and choose Buy as a gift. Sign in if necessary.

Step 3: You can only send games to an email address on your PC. Carefully enter the address and then fill in the sender box.

Step 4: You can modify the payment information and gift details on the confirmation page before confirming your purchase.

Compatibility with Xbox Series X

Overall, the Xbox has great compatibility across generations of consoles, though it’s worth checking to make sure the game is supported on the platform your receiver uses.

Microsoft’s official stance is that “most” donated Xbox One games will work on Xbox Series X, with the major exceptions being games that require Kinect (remember?) And some specialized apps. special. In other words, it is unlikely to be an issue. Also, if a 360 game works on Xbox One, it will work on Series X too, so there’s nothing to worry about.

You may also notice that some newer or improved games are highlighted Optimized for Xbox Series X / Swhich means they’ll perform even better if your recipient has a Series X console.

If you receive a gift …

First you are lucky! When a friend gives you a game, just come Microsoft’s redemption website and enter a 25-digit code. Alternatively, you can redeem a code on Xbox One with the option “Use a code” in the store.