r/xbox • u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic • 2d ago
News Merry Christmas Everyone! EA Has Left Us Need for Speed Unbound Palace UpgradeUnder the Tree as Today's Free Offering
Hope everybody had a great Christmas (or whatever else you celebrate, or just a good day in general). Looking to make it even better? Then be sure to grab today's free offering from EA within the next 24 hours: Need for Speed Unbound Palace Upgrade. You'll need this link, of course: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/need-for-speed-unbound-palace-upgrade/9N8K1MBWP9MP. And shout-out to u/addzy1990 once again for finding this first! I have absolutely no idea why the offers are no longer popping on my end.
Don't forget yesterday's offer, if you haven't claimed it already! Here's the link for Battlefield 2042 Elite Upgrade: https://www.xbox.com/games/store/battlefield-2042-elite-upgrade/9nsqrz73749c
If you haven't heard of this promotion already, here's the context: EA and Xbox/Microsoft have partnered up to give out free (to permanently keep!) games and DLC to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play members. Starting from December 16/17 and running until December 26, each day a new game or DLC from EA becomes free for about 24 hours. Although no lineup has been officially stated, an image provided in the official blog post announcement has proven to be mostly reliable, bar one offer. However, there's no order as to when they're being given out. Said image will be provided in the comments below.
Need questions answered or some troubleshooting tips? Here's some additional information I've managed to cobble together from my own and other Redditor's experiences (as EA and Xbox/Microsoft didn't explain much of anything). This should hopefully answer any questions you may have. It's ongoing and updated with each new post, so feel free to contribute!
Each day's new offer goes live at around 7:00 P.M. EST.
Both Game Pass Ultimate and standalone EA Play members are applicable to the offers.
Members of Game Pass PC may not be applicable (despite including EA Play also); I need at least one or two more people to confirm this.
As for Xbox users who play on PC, I've gotten conflicting reports as to whether the PC versions of the free games have been applicable. During the first half of the promotion, some Redditors had relayed to me they could claim them through the Xbox PC app. As of late though, I've been told of how none of the offers had been redeemable on PC. So your mileage may vary.
Offers may be claimed through Xbox consoles and the web browser version of the Xbox/Microsoft store. Also PC(? Console versions of so).
There's been no consistent/certain way of being notified when things become free, apart from that they come through the consoles. Some people have gotten some notifications, some haven't. Some people have gotten only one, some haven't at all. Etc, etc. So if you get one, cool, but don't be dependent on these showing up.
These offers seem to be valid worldwide (corroborated with Redditors from the UK, South Korea, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico).
For DLC offers, you don't need to own their respective games in order to claim them.
If you don't 'own' the base game and claim the upgrade it won't show up in your 'owned games' section.
If you're still having issues with claiming the games (getting error, payment methods being asked for), here's some possible solutions that other Redditots have provided that may resolve the problem:
Firstly, if it's not showing up your initial device of choice, try another (ex: if the offer isn't showing up as free on your phone, try your console). It's a simple, but effective solution.
On a similar note, try switching what web browser you're using, if you're going about it this way.
(At least on mobile) If prompted with a "Buy" button, click it anyways and then sign in again. If the purchase still doesn't go through after that, swap browsers. The purchase may now succeed.
On your console, search for the respective game or DLC. You'll see it marked down or for full price. Click "Buy," then go to see all versions, and you'll find it in there for free.
(Seemingly) To activate it on PC, launch the game in cloud mode. Then it should activate. Then just go play normally.
In addition to all of this, here's some tips Xbox support provided when I was messaging them:
Search the game on the store. Enter the game eventhough it's showing a price. Press "buy", select the Deluxe version then it should appear as free. If it doesn't work the first time, try the following and then follow the steps above one more time: Go to settings > general > network settings > advance settings > MAC address > Clear, then restart.
Keep trying on different devices and, keep refreshing the page back and forth until it goes through. (Pretty much has already been stated here.)
And finally, when all else fails, just brute force it, as per the word of other Reddiors. As in:
If you're able to get through, but get prompted with "card failed," keep trying till it works.
If the store page still doesn't show up as free, keep refreshing the page.
Similarly, keep logging in and out until the offer potentially appears.
And as a side note for those who have been keeping track, I've still yet to receive a response from EA Help. Got another message from Xbox Support though! And... it's a feedback questionnaire. 🙃
That's it from me! If you have anything else to ask me about, I'll answer to the best of my ability l! Although, I haven't exactly been responding immediately as of late (have been busy with the holidays). I do want to thank those who have been answering the call for help of others! If not from at the very least, I very much appreciate your effort! 🫡
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u/cupcake_queen101 2d ago
Why is it only upgrades and not the full game
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u/PumasUNAM7 2d ago
Because you need ea play or gamepass ultimate to get these, so you should already have access to the games.
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u/-PandemicBoredom- 2d ago
So Fight Night is the only one left which should be tomorrow.
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u/solarriors XBOX 2d ago
I think the giveaway ends today
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u/-PandemicBoredom- 2d ago
I don’t think so. They said 10 days and it started on the 17th, so that would make tomorrow the last day.
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 2d ago
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u/Eastern_Bee5456 1d ago
this giveaway end yesterday?
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 1d ago
With the day now over, 99.9% it did. Wish we'd gotten more clarification from EA and Xbox/Microsoft (in regards to this whole promotion really), but in this particular case, I guess it just depended upon how you interpreted December 26 being stated as the end date.
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u/Wookie_von_Gondor XBOX Series X 2d ago
FYI, Control is also free today on Epic Store!
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u/kannan4NFS 2d ago
Thanks for sharing. I just got ultimate version last week. What a timing 😄
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 1d ago
Haha, you ain't the only one either (at least in a similar situation) judging from some of the comments! I've gotten quite a few similar comments on my previous posts, but I guess that's kind of just a give me with giveaways like this. At least there are people who will find it useful.
Also, you're username checks out lol. 😄
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u/BR-787 1d ago
What about Fight Night?
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 1d ago
I have no idea. I haven't been seeing the free offers on my end as of late, so I wouldn't know firsthand. But seeing everyone else's comments and posts on here, it seems like we're not getting it. I've seen some people suspect that it got replaced by the Anthem upgrade (for a couple days now actually), and seeing as how the day is now over, that theory's becoming more and more likely. Whether it's true or not, it ashame we haven't gotten any word from EA or Xbox/Microsoft at the very least. But I guess that kind of lineups with just how poorly handled this whole promotion has been.
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u/Bard1313 2d ago
Thought I’d missed this one. Thanks. Even though I’d never use it, free is free.
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 1d ago edited 1d ago
You're welcome! And yeah, that's pretty much what I've been thinking of all the DLCs and upgrades offered. Don't exactly plan on buying NFS Unbound anytime soon, but I'll take it nonetheless. And besides, it's good for the people who do own the game.
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u/Devilofchaos108070 2d ago
Another damn dlc smh
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u/Dominick-666 Team Sonic 1d ago
Ah well. A whole game would've definitely been preferred. At least there are people out there who want this/will make use of this. Good for them then! Same applies to the rest DLC that has been offered.
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u/darkdeath174 Day One - 2013 2d ago
Region free url for those who haven't been the page yet
https://www.xbox.com/games/store/need-for-speed-unbound-palace-upgrade/9N8K1MBWP9MP