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Xbox has confirmed that it intends to rechristen the Xbox Live service Xbox Network, following a day's worth of speculation after a change was noticed on the Xbox dashboard.
In a statement to The Verge, a Microsoft spokesperson said "'Xbox network' refers to the underlying Xbox online service, which was updated in the Microsoft Services Agreement. The update from 'Xbox Live' to 'Xbox network' is intended to distinguish the underlying service from Xbox Live Gold memberships."
The change was first noted over the weekend, as members of the most recent Xbox Dashboard beta including journalist Tom Warren noticed a change when they were uploading captured screenshots that the confirmation dialogue on the console had changed the wording from Xbox Live to Xbox Network, followed by other internet slueths spotting that frequent face of Xbox—Larry 'Major Nelson' Hyrb—had changed his Twitter bio from reading "Xbox Live's Major Nelson" to just "Xbox's Major Nelson."
Aside from the name change though it seems as though it's largely business as usual for users—but it certainly marks the end of an era, given the service launched as Xbox Live all the way back in November 2002 on the original Xbox console.
The rise in popularity in Xbox Game Pass (now with over 18 million subscribers and counting) has left many wondering if Xbox will move away from Xbox Live Gold in the future, and a recent u-turn on a proposed price hike that also led to the announcement that Gold will no longer be required for free-to-play games has only poured fuel onto that particular fire.
However, an additional statement provided by Microsoft to Video Games Chronicle has now said: "Xbox Live isn’t going away. We are making ongoing adjustments to create a simpler, more descriptive messaging system for Xbox in different areas. None of these experiences or features will change as part of these updates."
Xbox network https://t.co/E49QQzQFad pic.twitter.com/OQS1cRsrZ2
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 21, 2021
