Microsoft Points have gone the way of the dinosaur, and given way to local currency.
Yesterday, Microsoft updated the Xbox 360 dashboard with a small change that you might not notice unless you try to buy something. When you look into the prices on games and DLC, you’ll notice that Microsoft Points are gone, and everything is now in local currency, eliminating the confusing pay system that Microsoft has had in place for almost a decade.
You read that right. You won’t have to go into the “add points” menu any more to figure out how much that new multiplayer map in Halo 4 is actually setting you back. That extra quest in Dragon Age: Origins isn’t worth 400 Microsoft Points any more, as now it’s five dollars US. That Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 for Borderlands 2 now has a definite price right up front. You get the idea.
Now you may be wondering if that Microsoft Points gift card you’ve been keeping for a rainy day is any good now. It is, apparently until June 1, 2015, when Microsoft Points will no longer exist. That’s almost two years from now, so there isn’t any big hurry. Just use them up by then and you’ll be fine.
The gift cards themselves will be changed from Microsoft Points to simply Xbox Gift Cards later this year, so when you pay for one, there is no guessing what it will actually cost you when you look at it. The currency value will be right on the card.
No more will we have to sit there and try to figure out what the prices are on Xbox Live based on the fact that 80 Microsoft Points are the same as one dollar. The math has been eliminated after the update and gift card transition.
Now in countries where the value of the US dollar fluctuates, the total will be based on the current exchange rate. The confusion caused by conversion to Microsoft Points has been eliminated.