Google has announced its free rewards programme for the Google Play Store is now available in South Africa.
First launched in Japan in September 2018, Google Play Points allows users to earn points for performing certain actions on the company’s app store and apps downloaded from it.
Users can earn points on games, apps, movies, in-game items, subscriptions, and more.
You can also earn Play Points by downloading featured free apps and games.
These points can then be used to redeem in-app items or as Google Play credit to be used for paid apps or subscriptions.
Director of Africa Platform Partnerships for Android and Play, Mariam Abdulahi, said that the company launched the programme to show its appreciation for the more than 2 billion people in 190 countries who use Google Play.
“Over the past two years, millions of people have joined the programme in countries where its available. From this week, South Africans will be able to sign up too, Abdulahi stated.
How it works
Google Play Points features four reward levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Your level is determined by how many points you have collected, with higher levels increasing your earn rate and including perks like weekly prizes.
Points on each level are earned for purchases across the Google Play Store and within apps according to the following calculations:
- Bronze – 1 point per R17 spent
- Silver – 1.1 points per R17 spent
- Gold – 1.2 points per R17 spent
- Platinum – 1.4 points per R17 spent
To move from Bronze to Silver, a user would have to earn 150 points, thus spending R2,550.
However, there are also weekly points events which can boost your earning rate on select games and movies.
In addition, users will earn three times the Play Points on everything they buy in the first week after signing up.
Users will require 100 points for a R17 Google Play Credit, 200 points for R34, 500 points for R85 and 1,000 points for R170.
Alternatively, the points can be spent on coupons or bundles for games like Angry Birds 2, Candy Crush Saga, or Marvel Strike Force.
To join Google Play Points, open the Google Play app, tap the hamburger menu in the top left and select “Play Pointsâ€.