Xbox is handing out free anniversary cosmetics in six of its biggest games to mark 25 years since the first console went on sale, and each one is claimed a different way. Some appear automatically, one needs a code, one sits in a mailbox, and the Minecraft skin vanishes for good on December 10.
The list went up on Xbox Wire on November 12, the night Team Xbox closed its eight-city FanFest tour in Seattle. The original Xbox launched in North America at midnight on November 15, 2001, so the console turns 25 on Sunday.
The two deadlines that matter
Two dates drive the whole list. The Gears of War skin is free for only about five days after the announcement, from November 12 until the November 17 shop rotation. The Minecraft item runs a full month, from November 10 to December 10, giving it the longest window of the set. Everything else has no end date in the announcement, but grabbing those items early costs nothing.
A quick tally: of the six games, four need a player to do something (Forza, Halo, Gears and Minecraft), one is automatic (Flight Simulator) and one is limited to pre-order buyers (Call of Duty).
How to claim each Xbox 25th anniversary item
Ordered from most urgent to least:
- Gears of War: E-Day, Xbox Anniversary Weapon Skin Set: free in the in-game shop until the shop rotates on Tuesday, November 17. After that it moves to the barracks, where it costs free-to-earn Coins or premium currency, so claiming it this weekend saves a grind.
- Minecraft, OG Green Character Creator item: a head-to-toe base skin in translucent Xbox green that other clothing can be layered over. Claim it in the dressing room of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition before 10 a.m. Pacific on December 10. One per account.
- Halo: Campaign Evolved, Damascus Prototype Armor Style: free to every player, but it must be redeemed on Halo Waypoint. Xbox published the code GWT9-DNBT-7X9S-DJCX-8KH3 alongside a redemption link.
- Forza Horizon 6, GR GT Anniversary Livery: a paint job for the game’s cover car, the 2025 Toyota GR GT, styled on the colors and materials of the 2001 console. Open the Message Center in game and look in the Gifts tab.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, four anniversary liveries: nothing to do. They appear automatically in the Aircraft Livery menu for the Boeing 737 MAX, the XCub, the hot air balloon and the Skyship 600 airship.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Inner Circuit M4 Blueprint: the exception. The see-through OG Green version goes only to people who bought a digital pre-order of the game on Xbox Series X|S.
Why the color green
The recurring theme is the translucent green of the original hardware. That 2001 machine was built from standard PC parts, an Intel Pentium III and an Nvidia graphics chip, and it was the first console with a built-in hard drive. Bill Gates sold the first unit himself at a midnight launch in New York’s Times Square. It went on to sell 24 million units, carried by Halo: Combat Evolved.
The giveaway is one part of a larger birthday push. Xbox also added original Xbox games to its PC backward compatibility program, a list we covered when 21 classic Xbox games, including 11 Star Wars titles, arrived on PC. Halo players get more than armor: Halo: Campaign Evolved is adding the Firefight co-op mode in a free winter update. And Gears fans already received an earlier gift when The Coalition gave E-Day players General Raam for free on the series’ 20th birthday.
Slaughter Mode also lands in DOOM: The Dark Ages on November 16 for owners of the Revelations DLC or Premium Edition, a day before the Gears shop rotates.
Further reading
Image: Evan-Amos, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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