Today Microsoft's Major Nelson announced that the public gates would be opening for Xbox Live's 2013 Update. According to our favorite Xbox team member, the update " will include updates to improve overall performance and the ability to conduct transactions with local currency."
In a major decision, Microsoft has decided to retire their point based system which originally launched as a way to allow users without the need of a credit card; this reduces the number of fees the company would need to pay to credit card companies for each small transaction. This aligns with rumors we reported about previously in January.
If you want to get in on the sweet beta action simply fire up your Xbox 360 console and look for the "Xbox Beta Program" tile on your dashboard.
At this time, Xbox Live members in every country except Japan can currently join - the country of Japan will be added at a later unspecified date according to officals.
Alright kids, go grab that update!
Source: Major Nelson's Blog