Xbox One game gifting now available to the public

Earlier this year game gifting made its debut on Xbox One, allowing select users to send digital titles over Xbox Live. Since its initial appearance, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out the feature via the Xbox Insider Program and today, that functionality expands to all Xbox One consoles.

Like similar solutions available on rival platforms, Xbox One game gifting adds the ability to send digital game licenses between players through the integrated Microsoft Store. By selecting "Buy as gift" on the Store page, users can choose a friend or email address to receive the gift, before following a familiar checkout process. A 25-digit code will then be sent to the recipient via email, for redemption on the console.

There are some minor restrictions on gifting, however for many, should be a simple way to treat friends for the holidays. For example, while most games and DLC are giftable, preorders, backward compatible games, and consumable items are all excluded. There are also some restrictions on sending bulk discounts games and redeeming codes between regions, to prevent abuse of the system.

For more information on Xbox One game gifting, make sure to take a look at our FAQ, which provides an in-depth look at the restrictions in place. For those wanting to start sending gifts today, we also have a handy game gifting how-to available.

Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.