How Xbox Live's Friend Referral Program Works

While I hate to be put into the place of selling things to my friends, Xbox Live's referral program might make me change my mind. The just-launched program rewards you for browbeating, smooth-talking and otherwise persuading your friends or acquaintances to go from Silver accounts to Gold ones. Here's how it works:

If you're an Xbox Live Gold member, and you refer a friend, by gamertag at this site, and he/she signs up for something, you can choose one of four rewards:

• Get your free member friend to go Gold and (1) you and your friend will each get 400 Microsoft Points* or (2) 600 Microsoft Points*, depending on the active offer.
• Get your free member friend to go Gold and (3) you and your friend will get a multiplayer Xbox Live Arcade game of Microsoft's choosing.
• Get your free member friend to try Gold with a promotional token good for 1 month of Gold, and (4) if your friend redeems the token within 30 days, you'll get 200 Microsoft Points*.

You're allowed to recruit up to five Xbox Live friends per day, until the promotion's expires on July 1st, giving you 166 days in which you could potentially have 830 friends upgrade to Gold. Sadly, you're only eligible to receive all four rewards once during the promotion period.

Visit the official site for rules and further details.