Want to call Skype users for free from your Xbox One? Now you’ll be able to aplenty with Microsoft’s latest promotion, which will give Xbox Live Gold members free group video calling for a period of six months, which translates to about $30 in savings during the period — Skype group video calls normally run $5 per month.
That’s not all Xbox Live Gold memberships get with the 1080p quality calling application. Subscribers will also get 100 minutes to call anyone any mobile or landline in 50 countries without cost.
Offer can be redeemed in Xbox One’s 13 initial launch markets
Microsoft is giving Xbox One owners until March 31, 2014 to redeem this offer through the Skype app on the console, a demonstration of which appears in the video embedded below. It’s worth noting, despite the fact that it’s seemingly obvious, that the offer is only valid in the console’s 13 launch markets. Users will be able to use these minutes through other versions of Skype on other platforms once the offer has been redeemed.
Skype for Xbox One will be “snappable” so users will be able to watch a movie or other media while making a call. With Kinect, a new way to interact with the call is introduced: the accessory’s wide view lens and auto-zoom functionality will focus on the caller no matter where they may move — automatically.