Xbox Live becomes Xbox Network for some players
These are very busy days for Microsoft, which has finalized the acquisition of Bethesda and Zenimax, has further fleshed out the Xbox Game Pass and added new features to its next-gen consoles such as FPS Boost, also promising the arrival of Dolby Vision in the future.There is an air of renewal in the Xbox home, probably even more radical than we could have expected. Some gamers have noticed that on their systems the wording Xbox Live, which has indicated the infrastructure of the gaming division for nearly two decades, has been replaced by the Xbox network (with a lowercase "n"). Microsoft has not yet provided official information on this and the change is not visible to the entire community, but it is evident that something is boiling in the pot behind the scenes.
Xbox Live is one of the best-known services in the industry videogame: it was launched in 2002, when the first console from Microsoft was still around, radically revolutionizing the world of video games with a well-structured and paid web and multiplayer infrastructure, which laid the foundations for today's services. However, we would like to clarify that the name change has not yet been formalized, and that therefore it could be a simple test. If it were to be implemented for real, in any case, a small revolution would be set up, which would conform, at least in the name, Xbox to the competition of PlayStation Network and Nintendo Network. Some users have seen the anticipation of big changes coming to the Xbox Live Gold formula, which a few months ago had seen a reshaping of prices, then canceled, but it is all to be confirmed. The only certain thing about this is that free-to-play games will soon no longer require an active Gold membership in order to be played.
Xbox Live Might be About to Drop the “Live” Branding
More changes might be inbound for Xbox’s online service.
Microsoft have been making changes here and there to Xbox Live of late, including major ones like free-to-play games finally no longer requiring Xbox Live Gold subscriptions to be played offline, and it seems that more changes – though related to the Xbox Live branding this time – might be coming as well.
It seems the Xbox dashboard no longer has any mention of Xbox Live, and instead only refers to it in the UI as “Xbox network”, suggesting that Microsoft might be preparing to drop the long-standing “Live” branding entirely in favour of something more general and wide-ranging. Given their platform-agnostic and services-driven approach, that would definitely fit with their strategy.
Of course, this is yet to be acknowledged by Microsoft in an official statement, so it’s probably best to wait for word from the horse’s mouth for now. Meanwhile, some reports have suggested that Xbox Live Gold might still be done away with in the near future (despite Microsoft saying that it isn’t going away any time soon). Read more on that through here.