After more than 18 years, Microsoft will soon be renaming Xbox Live. The service is called Xbox Network. Some of the earliest mention of the name change comes from beta testers of the new Xbox dashboard, but Microsoft has since confirmed the changes itself.
In a statement to The Verge, a Microsoft spokesman said: “Xbox network” refers to the underlying Xbox online service that has been updated in the Microsoft service agreement. Updating “Xbox Live” to “Xbox Network” is intended to differentiate the underlying service of Xbox Live Gold memberships. ”
In other words, the new name of the service refers to the underlying system that connects the consoles to the Internet, not the subscriber players used for online games (which will still be called Xbox Live Gold). But it still means a change in a name that has existed since the original Xbox in 2002. It is not clear when exactly this name change will take full effect.
This is not the only change Microsoft is bringing to its online services this year. The company briefly considered raising the price of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, but after the fans shouted, the idea was scrapped. Instead, Microsoft went so far as to say that in the near future, players will not even have to pay Xbox Live Gold to play free games. According to Microsoft, this change will take effect at some point in the coming months.