Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Microsoft celebrates its ultimate game discount blowout with a new sweepstakes

Kevin Parrish
By
Microsoft Ultimate Game Sale 2017
Now that E3 2017 is behind us and the awards are dished out, the summer season is upon us, and that means huge discounts and not enough money in our wallets to scoop up everything we want. The discount bonanza started with the E3-specific sales from Sony and Nintendo followed by the likes of
Recommended Videos
Good Old Games, GameFly, and
Related
the current Steam Summer Sale. Now we have to deal with Microsoft’s upcoming Ultimate Game Sale, and our wallets are hating us already.

Starting Friday and concluding July 10, Microsoft is slashing the prices of games, gaming hardware, and accessories sold through the Windows Store, Xbox Store, and Microsoft Store. Microsoft promises savings of up to 50 percent on the Xbox and Windows 10 platforms although the company is not coughing up any early numbers. If we are lucky, Microsoft will hack the prices of its Xbox Play Anywhere cross-play library too.

Until Microsoft updates its blog on Friday with its entire list of discounts, Xbox and Windows 10 gamers will have to suffice with the company’s new Ultimate Game Face Sweepstakes providing gamers with a chance to win one of two Ultimate Prize Packages. The promotion has already begun and ends at 11:59 p.m. (PT) on July 10.

To enter, participants must share their Ultimate Game Face via Twitter, Instagram, or both. All images must include the #UltimateGameFace hashtag along with the hashtag for the gamer’s target grand prize: #PCSweepstakes2017 or #XboxSweepstakes2017.

But don’t brush off Microsoft’s new sweepstakes just yet. You might want to get your serious game face on after checking out what Microsoft is cramming into its two prize packs:

Ultimate Xbox Gaming Prize Pack Ultimate PC Gaming Prize Pack
Custom Designed Xbox One S Alienware Aurora R6 Gaming Desktop
Custom Designed Xbox Elite Controller Alienware 25” Gaming Monitor
$1,000 Xbox Gift Card Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard
Samsung 55” Class Q7F QLED 4K TV Alienware Elite Gaming Mouse
Seagate Game Drive for Xbox (4TB) $1,000 Windows Store Gift Card
HyperX CloudX Pro Gaming Headset HyperX Cloud II Headset
YETI Hopper Two 20 Cooler YETI Hopper Two 20 Cooler
Oakley Kitchen Sink Backpack Oakley Kitchen Sink Backpack

“All elements must be included to be eligible,” the rules state. “The account settings for this message must be set to “unprotected” or “public” to be eligible. For doing this, you will receive one Sweepstakes entry into the prize package you tagged in your post. There is a limit of one (1) entry per person PER platform, for an overall maximum of two (2) entries — one on Twitter and one on Instagram.”

As for Microsoft’s upcoming Ultimate Game Sale, some of the games flashed in its promotional trailer include Gear of War 4, Halo Wars 2, Dead Rising 4, Forza Horizon 3, Recore, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Fallout Shelter (in-game items), Roblox (in-game items), Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kevin Parrish
Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Unity clarifies what types of game installs count toward its new Runtime Fee
The Unity logo that accompanied the Runtime Fee announcement.

Unity angered lots of game developers earlier today when it unveiled its upcoming Unity Runtime Fee program, which takes a cut every time a Unity game is installed. It is particularly harsh for smaller developers using Unity Personal, as they will be $0.20 per install if their game makes over $200,000 within 12 months and gets over 200,000 lifetime game installs. There has been a lot of confusion over what exactly Unity defines as a "game install" in an industry full of subscription services, game bundles, and piracy. Digital Trends reached out to get clarification on what counts, and Unity responded.

When it comes to the multitude of ways players can acquire games, Unity says developers don't need to worry about fees related to trials, bundles, and giveaways. That said, developers who put their games in a subscription service like Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus Premium will need to take these fees into account."Demos, trials, game bundles, and giveaways like the Humble Bundle do not count as installs," a Unity spokesperson tells Digital Trends. "Subscription services, like Game Pass, do count as an install."

Read more
Microsoft gives Activision Blizzard cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft
Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming Service Enters Beta This Week

Microsoft announced its intention to grant Ubisoft, the publisher behind series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles if Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher goes through.
This deal was made in order to appease the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Microsoft has not had an easy time trying to acquire Activision Blizzard as it has run into heavy resistance from regulatory bodies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.K.'s CMA. The CMA's complaints centered around the potential monopoly Microsoft could have on cloud gaming if the deal were to go through. There was speculation that Microsoft would divest its U.K. cloud gaming efforts to appease the CMA, but it has now presented this new plan that would technically make it give up control of Activision Blizzard game-streaming rights worldwide for the next 15 years.
In a blog post, Microsoft President Brad Smith explainsed that if the Activision Blizzard acquisition happens, Microsoft will give "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years" in perpetuity following a one-off payment.
Essentially, Ubisoft will be the one deciding which cloud gaming platforms and services to put Activision Blizzard games on, not Microsoft. Smith claims that this means "Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service -- Xbox Cloud Gaming -- or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services," and that Ubisoft will allow them to honor existing agreements with companies like Nvidia. 

Ubisoft has been cloud gaming friendly over the past several years, eagerly putting its games on services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. With this deal, Ubisoft says it plans to bring Activision Blizzard games to its Ubisoft+ subscription service. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also commented on the deal, saying that he approves of the deal, but that "nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture" for Activision Blizzard and its investors.
The current deadline for Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is October 18.

Read more
Asus just embarrassed everyone with its new gaming keyboard
The Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 on a pink background.

I didn't expect much out of the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96. The company impressed me earlier this year with the ROG Azoth, but the Strix Scope II 96 looked like a regression; a cheaper gaming keyboard designed for the mainstream, devoid of the enthusiast flair the company displayed with the Azoth. I'm happy I was wrong.

The Strix Scope II 96 can't rival building your own keyboard, nor the many premium options from brands like Keychron, but it raises the bar for what you should expect out of a mechanical gaming keyboard that costs $180. Not only does it come with modern features like hot-swappable switches and three connection modes, but it also sounds and feels great right out of the box. And that's coming from someone that winces at the sound of most mechanical gaming keyboards.
What makes it different?

Read more