Got Microsoft Points? They’re being phased out! Here’s what you need to know.

Microsoft Points – those annoyingly abstract middleman credits players had to buy in order to purchase things on Xbox Live – are being phased out in preparation for the Xbox 1’s release. Those of you who have some points on your Live account and who don’t see anything worth spending them on, fear not! Your points are going to converted over to currency appropriate for whatever region you happen to be in. Full details about the change can be found on the FAQ Microsoft has helpfully provided, which should answer everything you need to know about this coming change.

I don’t know anyone who’s sorry to see the point system go away. Everyone always felt that it largely functioned as a way to get gamers to buy more points than they actually needed to pick up their desired purchase. The result was that everyone’s account tended to have some small leftover amount of points, sitting there uselessly and ultimately making a person feel as if they were tricked into spending more money than they really wanted to. But, that’s all a thing of the past – or at least it’s going to be in the future. In the meantime, it’s refreshing to know that there’s at least going to be some kind of point conversion system, not to mention the carrying over of Live rewards.

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