Microsoft is now matching your Microsoft Rewards COVID-19 donations until the end of the year

From now until the end of the year, US Xbox players who donate their Microsoft Rewards towards the effort to contain and stamp out COVID-19 will have their donations matched by Microsoft.

Microsoft started giving players the option to donate their Microsoft Rewards points to the CDC Foundation back in April, and the company says that players have contributed "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to the organisation since then. Building on that philanthropic success, Microsoft then allowed players to put their points toward the United Nations Foundation and GlobalGiving in their coronavirus response efforts, too, and it's the former that has announced Microsoft's most recent pledge to match donations until the end of the year.

"U.S. Xbox players, get in the game AND get in the fight against COVID-19," announced United Nations Foundation on its official Twitter channel. "Now through the end of the year, Microsoft Rewards will be matching all point donations to the COVID-19 Fund for [World Health Organisation]."

You can earn Microsoft Reward points on Xbox by signing up through the app on your console or visiting the official site. Once you do, you'll earn points by playing games, with bonuses for completing special punch cards and Xbox Game Pass quests. For every 1,000 points you contribute, Microsoft pledges to donate one real dollar to your charity of choice - and now that donation will be matched by Microsoft. You can donate straight from your Xbox One dashboard or within your Microsoft Rewards app.

Letting players turn their reward points into real-world contributions is one of the many ways video games are contributing to real-world coronavirus relief efforts. 

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