The fact that most digital game stores do not allow gifting options is a bit baffling- Steam, of course, has offered this option for a long time, and even Nintendo allowed it back on the Wii (though no subsequent system has had the functionality). But these exceptions apart, if you want to gift a digital copy of a game to a friend, your best bet is to just get them credit, and hope they buy that game for themselves.
Microsoft, at least, intends to change that, and it will soon be introducing gifting options for digital games. Responding to a fan on Twitter, Xbox’s Mike Ybarra said that gifting functionality for Xbox One was ‘not far’, which is excellent news.
As of right now, we don’t know if this will also extend to the Windows Store, but frankly, having it just on Xbox is a good start. Now, let’s hope Sony and Nintendo are paying attention, and decide to do this too…