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Microsoft are continuing their efforts to make Xbox Live the best value in online entertainment by offering users the chance to earn free points by achieving certain tasks. Gamers who renew their subscriptions could now be eligible for the perk by taking part in programme surveys and making a first purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The scheme currently has 60,000 participants that were randomly selected and a new website for the reward scheme has been set up for those lucky enough to be sent details. A section on the site reads, "For the next six months, the Rewards Squad will hook you up with Microsoft Points just for doing the stuff Xbox LIVE members do all the time. You'll score points not only for renewing your Gold subscriptions; you'll get a reward on what you spend on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The best part is, the more you spend, the more you get, and for each month you stay on Gold, the higher your monthly reward up to 5% of your Marketplace spend."

"Also, every month, The Rewards Squad will send you an email with an update on the points you've earned and the cool stuff you can get, this promotion lasts for six months and you can start spending the points you've accumulated after the first three months."

It is thought that a successful trial period could see the scheme extended to all users but this has yet to be confirmed. So in a nutshell, Xbox Live users do what they usually do but get a reward for doing so. But where's the catch? Oh yeah, there isn't one but it will be interesting to see how many new users all of a sudden develop an interest in Microsoft's online experience. Not that the computing giants had this in mind at all...