Virgin Media offers free Xbox in January sale plan

Virgin Media has launched a major incentive for new shoppers, giving customers an Xbox Series S bundle for free as part of its January sale deals.

As part of the offer, the UK telecommunications company is giving the Xbox Series S or a three-month subscription to Xbox Games Pass Unlimited at no cost. This offer is available to all British customers who purchase any of the company’s existing “Big, Bigger, or Biggest” mobile, TV, sports, and broadband packages.

By going for the deal during this period, people can get £249 off the Xbox. There are also substantial savings available in the January sale, such as a £62 monthly reduction on the Bigger Combo Bundle Volt and a £53 monthly discount on the Bigger Movies Combo Bundle.

Sports fans can get three months of FIFA gaming with the Bigger Combo bundle + Sports HD package, which has a choice of 204 TV channels with a variety of sports channels to watch Premier League football, WSL, F1 and top-flight rugby. Film lovers, who enjoy tuning into the latest blockbusters, have the option of the Bigger Combo bundle + Movies bundle, which includes more than 218 TV channels, including access to all Sky Cinema HD channels.

However, if an Xbox is not your cup of tea, the other rewards being offered are a SONOS Ray Compact Sound Bar, a BOSE QuietComfort Wireless Bluetooth Noise-Canceling Headphones, or an Amazon Gift Card worth £150.

It’s not the first time the broadband provider has provided an Xbox as a reward. In July, new customers who purchased selected Virgin Media bundles could enjoy the Xbox Series S at no extra cost or could claim £200 bill credit.

Virgin Media and Microsoft attempt to address consumer issues

In November, the telecoms company lowered its annual revenue forecast, citing that consumers were spending less on new mobile phones and broadband packages due to the cost of living crisis.

It adjusted its revenue to reflect the 2021 merger with O2 and excluded any impact from its fiber-building activities. Consequently, it entered a “stable” phase instead of a “growth” phase.

At the same time, Microsoft’s Xbox closed out 2023 with a decreasing number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, according to third-party data. Estimates on Xbox Game Pass subscriber numbers at the end of the last year placed it at around 33 million users, due to a slower adoption rate.

Featured image: Canva

Suswati Basu

Freelance journalist

Suswati Basu is a multilingual, award-winning editor and the founder of the intersectional literature channel, How To Be Books. She was shortlisted for the Guardian Mary Stott Prize and longlisted for the Guardian International Development Journalism Award.

With 18 years of experience in the media industry, Suswati has held significant roles such as head of audience and deputy editor for NationalWorld news, digital editor for Channel 4 News
and ITV News. She has also contributed to the Guardian and received training at the BBC As an audience, trends, and SEO specialist, she has participated in panel events alongside Google.

Her career also includes a seven-year tenure at the leading AI company Dataminr, where she led the Europe desk and launched the company’s first employee resource group for disabilities. Before this, Suswati worked as a journalist in China for four years, investigating censorship and the Great Firewall, and acquired proficiency in several languages.

In recent years, Suswati has been nominated for six awards, including the Independent Podcast Awards, International Women’s Podcast Awards, and the Anthem Awards for her literary social affairs show.

Her areas of speciality span a wide range, including technology, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), social politics, mental health, and nonfiction books.