Friend bought me a gift

Gift cards and gifts are region locked, meaning that can only be used in the region or country they were purchased in.

Your friend will just need to return the code from the place of purchase.

I’m not sure there is a legitimate way around the region lock.

Yes, there will always be print when you are buying anything to let you know about the region. Sometimes, with games as well, there will be print letting you know that this may not be available in all regions. Unfortunately he has to request a refund now
and repurchase the gift for you. This is in place because otherwise there are people in countries with higher taxes than the US that would always purchase their Xbox content through the US store if allowed (as the games etc are cheaper without the high taxes
added on), which sidesteps the tax laws in their own country, which is illegal for them to do.

Hello Vixen,

Here are two facts about most online game codes for consoles in 2019:

* They're tied to geographical regions and may only be redeemed in that region (i.e. North America, Europe, Africa, etc.).

* They cannot be refunded once purchased, especially at retail locations.

Fortunately, Microsoft allows you change the region on your Xbox account:

https://support.xbox.com/my-account/microsoft-account/update-microsoft-account-country-region

But you may still be restricted by geographical lookup of your IP address. In that case, you will need to use a VPN from the region you wish to redeem the code:

https://www.windowscentral.com/use-vpn-xbox-one

If neither of these work, there is a very small chance Ark/Studio WIldcard's customer service might credit your account. Please follow these instructions:

https://support.survivetheark.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000784588-How-to-Submit-a-Ticket

I hope this helps solve your problem.

Trying to circumvent the region lock, is not advisable as with the use of a VPN. These two methods can end up causing you a lot of issues.

Never had a problem with gift cards between different regions before. It failed when it was anything else, but gift cards seemed to work fine.

I simply purchase a gift card through Xbox, in my current currency of course, and provide the code to my friend in a different region.

Works fine and avoids lying about your region (aka breaking the terms).

Lying about your location to redeem codes or circumvent things is not allowed and can create a whole other world of issues. It's also against the TOS