Two heavyweights in the gaming industry, Xbox and Riot Games announced their collaboration back in June 2022. The result of this new partnership is the addition of Riot’s titles to the Xbox Game Pass on December 12. Yes, you can now access games like Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and more from the Xbox app on your Windows PC. However, the best part about the Xbox-Riot collaboration will have to be the insane rewards you can unlock in Valorant and League of Legends. So if you are searching for a step-by-step tutorial on how you can link your Riot account to your Xbox account to access the Game Pass rewards, you have come to the right place. Without any further delay, let’s dive in!
How to Link Your Riot and Xbox Accounts (2022)
Step-by-Step Guide to Link Riot Account with Xbox Account
The process to connect your Riot account to Xbox is a simple 3-step process. You simply need to log in to the respective accounts in a web browser and authenticate the pairing process. Here’s how it works:
1. First, you need to navigate to the “Xbox Social Sign-in” webpage linked here. You need to log into your Microsoft account on the said page.
2. Then, select the Microsoft (Xbox) account you just logged into.
Note: This step seems redundant and may not appear for all users. It will definitely appear for users who are already logged into their Xbox account in the web browser.
3. Now, you need to give Riot Games permission to access your Xbox account information to link the two accounts. Click the “Yes” button to authenticate the connection.
4. Next, you will be asked to log into your Riot Games account. Enter your login credentials and proceed to the next step.
5. And that’s it! You have successfully linked your Xbox and Riot accounts. You will see a confirmation message on the screen. Click the “OK” button to head to your Riot account settings page.
5. On your Riot account settings page, you can confirm that the two accounts are linked under the “Connected Accounts” section.
Unlock Valorant Agents, LOL Champions with Xbox Game Pass
Now, you might think you have successfully linked your Riot and Xbox accounts, so you should see its effects in-game already. Well, that’s not the case. At least it was not for me. I opened Valorant after linking my accounts and didn’t have all the agents unlocked. I restarted the game a couple-odd times. However, I had to jump through a couple of extra hoops to see the benefits of my Xbox Game Pass subscription in Valorant. So follow the steps below:
1. Open the Xbox app, and you will see Valorant (or any other Riot game you have installed) pop-up in the left sidebar. The game showed it had an update pending. Click the “Update” icon.
Note: Clicking the update icon didn’t do anything in particular for me. Instead, my Xbox app crashed a couple of times in the process. I then reopened the Xbox app.
2. When I reopened the app, the option to update the game was gone, and I could open Valorant from within the Xbox app. So I clicked the “Play” button.
3. Valorant opened up as usual, but this time I was greeted with the “Xbox Game Pass Benefits” unlocked notification in-game. Now, I can confirm that my Riot and Xbox account link process worked.
Note: On an official support page, Riot says that the unlock process can take up to 24 hours in some cases. You will see a notification in the game once the rewards program and its benefits are available to you.
4. As shown in the screenshots, Valorant agents like Astra, Reyna, Yoru, and more have now been “unlocked with Rewards program” for me. They all carry the Rewards Program indicator. Also, as promised, I have received the free Pocket Sage gun buddy reward. You can check out a list of all the benefits and rewards of the Riot-Xbox account link partnership.
Note: According to a tweet from Riot’s Joe Hixson, remember that rewards unlocked using Xbox Game Pass will be revoked if you end your membership. But that doesn’t mean you will lose all your progress. “Everything earned from gameplay will stay unlocked later if you let your subscription lapse,” said Hixson.
Not everyone can put in the same amount of time to grind a game and unlock all characters. So, the Riot Games and Xbox partnership is a great way to skip the grind and gain access to all the characters at once. And not only the existing characters, but Riot has promised that all Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also be able to play with new agents in Valorant and new champions in League of Legends on release day. That’s a great perk to have for spending money on Microsoft’s gaming service. You can read the complete list of benefits on Xbox’s website linked here.
Moreover, starting December 12, 2022 and until January 1, 2023, you can earn additional limited-time rewards by linking an Xbox profile to a Riot account listed underneath:
- VALORANT (PC): Pocket Sage Buddy
- League of Legends (PC): Masterwork Chest and Key
- Teamfight Tactics (PC and Mobile): Little Legend Rare Egg
- LoL Wild Rift (Mobile): Random Emote Chest
- Legends of Runeterra (PC and Mobile): Prismatic Chest
Unlock Benefits by Linking Valorant, LoL Account to Xbox
So yeah, that’s how you can link your Valorant or LoL Riot accounts to your Xbox account to unlock the amazing benefits. Not just that, you get additional rewards when you successfully connect the two accounts, which is a cherry on top for regular players. Now, I’m someone who plays Valorant every so often and couldn’t unlock all agents, but thanks to the Xbox Game Pass, that’s now possible. Well, it’s amazing. Are you in the same boat as me, excited to try out some new Valorant agents or League of Legends champions? Do let us know in the comments section below.
