Game gifting on Xbox One now available to select Insiders

Microsoft is slowly rolling out the ability to gift games on Xbox One.

Being able to buy friends a game as a gift directly from the store is something fans have wanted for years, and Microsoft actually promised back in July that the feature was coming soon.

It now appears that select Insider Program members are beginning to see an option to Buy as Gift on game pages on the store, whether through Windows or Xbox One. You're able to either send it to someone on your friends list directly, or type an email address and have it sent that way.

Microsoft has not yet made an official announcement about the addition, but Windows Central is reporting that it's available now to those with access to firmware 1710, a preview build of an upcoming Xbox One update.

The site actually tested it and confirmed that the recipient will receive an email notification of the gift regardless of how it was sent (directly or via email). Interestingly, the email includes a 25-digit Xbox code that can be redeemed the same way you would any other game code bought outside of the store.

This could mean that the key can be used by someone other the recipient themselves, which indicates it's not a closed gift system like - say - Steam's own version. It's also not clear what limitations, if any, are in effect.

Someone could theoretically hoard keys for a specific game while it's on sale by gifting it to multiple fake email addresses, with the intention of selling the codes later for profit.