When you buy an Xbox One console you receive a 14-days Xbox One Live Gold free trial that you can use to access all the console's feature. You might also receive a code to activate a game for free, depending on the Xbox One edition you have purchased. For example, I bought an Xbox One Fifa 14 Special edition which includes a card with details for activating Fifa 14 on my console. Here's how to activate both your Xbox One Live Gold free trial and any game you might have purchased with or without your console.

Step 1. Go to the Games Store

First, sign in to your Xbox One with your Microsoft account. Then, look for the card(s) for what you activate. This card should have at least an activation code or a code plus a QR code.

Now go to the Store and select Games.

The Store displays the latest featured games. Scroll to the right and you will find a tile that says "Use a code". Select it.

If you want to use your voice to get there faster, turn on voice recognition on your console and say: "Xbox, use a code".

Step 2. Activate Your Xbox One Live Gold Trial or Your Game

Take the card that has the QR code for reclaiming your game or your Xbox One Live Gold Trial and place it in front of the Kinect. The Kinect will quickly recognize it and scan it. If the scanning doesn't work or you have only a code available, then select "Or enter the 25-character code", type your code and select Enter.

Then, Xbox One displays a summary of what it will activate (which game or subscription). If it will activate what you expect, select Confirm. Otherwise, select Cancel and try again.

You are informed about the success of the activation.

Select Close. If you activated your Xbox One Live Gold Trial, then there's nothing left to do. The procedure stops here. If you activated a game, then read the next section and follow its instructions.

Step 3. Install Your Game

If you activated a game, then go to the Store and select Games. Find the game which you just activated, open it and select Install.

Then wait for the download and installation process to finish. If you are installing a large game like Fifa 14, then arm yourself with some patience. This process will take quite a bit of time.

Conclusion

As you can see, the process for activating games and your Xbox One Live Gold Trial is not that complicated. The Kinect helps a lot in making it faster by taking voice commands and by scanning QR codes, which is great. Have you had any issues in activating subscriptions or games on your Xbox One?