Cape Town - Google has on Wednesday launched the much-loved Google Play Points in South Africa, allowing users to redeem hard-earned points for in-app items or Google Play Credit.
It was launched this week in South Africa and 12 other countries - Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UAE.
So what can you use them on? Well, anything really.
You will earn points on games, apps, movies as well as in-game items and subscriptions.
If you are still catching pokémon and trading in Pokémon GO and swapping ’sodalicious’ candies in Candy Crush Saga, you can earn Play Points to use for special items and discounts in these and other popular games. Google Play Credit can be used on movies, books, games, and apps.
You can also earn Play Points by downloading featured free apps and games. To make the deal sweeter, weekly points events can boost your earning rate on select games and movies.
As if in a game, Google Play Points has four levels (or tiers, if you are into gaming), namely Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Your level depends on how many points you’ve collected, so higher levels have perks such as weekly prizes. It is worth noting that when you reach a new level, you keep it for the current and following calendar year.
You start out by earning 1 point for every R17 you spend on in-app purchases, apps, games, movies, subscriptions and books.
“More than 2 billion people in 190 countries use Google Play to discover blockbuster movies, apps that help you be more productive, and books that inspire imagination. To show our appreciation, Google created a rewards programme called Google Play Points that lets you earn points and rewards for the ways you already use Google Play. Over the past two years, millions of people have joined the programme in countries where it’s available. From this week, South Africans will be able to sign up too,” said Mariam Abdulahi, Director, Africa Platform Partnerships - Android and Play.
The program launched in Japan and South Korea, in September 2018 and April 2019, respectively.
In the US, users can use the points to help support a great cause—or causes—of their choice from a rotating list of nonprofits, so hopefully a later update allows us to do the same and get into the spirit of giving.
To sign up, visit Google Play, tap ‘menu’ and then ‘Play Points’. Users will earn three times the Play Points on everything they buy in the first week.
IOL TECH