These Xbox players got GTA 6 for free the hard way

GTA VI isn't cheap, but a few tricks can help make the price more manageable.

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After so many years of waiting, the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally on the horizon. The game's pricing is pretty steep (albeit in line with AAA pricing norms of recent years) depending on what version you want. The Standard Edition retails for $80, and the Ultimate Edition is $100, which gives you access to a handful of exclusive cars, weapons and shops, as well as a few extra side activities. However, if you take advantage of the right Microsoft perks, you might be able to get the highly-anticipated title for free.

Multiple users on Reddit have shared success stories about free pre-ordered copies of GTA 6. Depending on the person, these have used slightly different methods: Financial_Specific24 got theirs by utilizing card points from the Xbox Mastercard, while user Automatic_Ad1665 got theirs solely through accruing Microsoft Rewards via everyday tasks. 

The former method is much more straightforward: purchases with the card net you points, with the biggest gains coming from Microsoft Store purchases, streaming subscriptions and food delivery. It's not an advisable path for anyone who's not in a position to get a new credit card, since the reward categories are pretty limited. But the Microsoft Rewards route is a simple, risk-free way to get GTA 6 for free — or at least a greatly reduced price.

How can you earn Microsoft Rewards?

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1,000 Microsoft Rewards points are roughly equivalent to $1, so you'll need to accrue 100,000 and trade them in for a gift card to get the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition at no cost. This number might seem daunting, but Microsoft offers a slew of ways to earn Rewards both online and on your Xbox. One of the fastest ways to earn points is through making purchases in the Microsoft Store, but that defeats the purpose of any GTA 6 discount you'd receive in the future.

On the Xbox mobile app, you can access Quests by tapping your profile picture and then viewing the Rewards tab. These Quests let you earn points through actions like playing on PC and console, using the Xbox app and weekly playing streaks. Points earned from these are amplified if you have a Game Pass subscription (which also opens you up to Game Pass-related Quests), with Premium and PC Only subscribers earning two times the points and Ultimate subscribers four times as many.

You can rack up Microsoft Rewards even when you aren't gaming by interfacing with the Microsoft Rewards dashboard. Here you'll find short daily activities like polls and quizzes, as well as a myriad of ways to earn through specific Bing searches. By setting Bing as your default search engine and using the Bing app, you can acquire even more points and multiplier streaks over time. As you accrue points, you'll level up, which in turn means you earn larger Rewards from daily tasks. 

With some diligence, by the time the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 rolls around in November, you could see a sizable discount.