It may have just been a way to get into local accounts, which I wouldn't consider "major". Also four games, one year of live, and $50 is more than $120.
They paid him at all, which is good, but it also shows that there's no reason they couldn't have authorized a bigger payout. It's still, at most, $350. Why not free Xbox Gold for life instead of one year? There's no cost to Microsoft.