To distinguish it from the Live subscription service.
Xbox Live will soon be renamed the Xbox Network in a move to distinguish Microsoft’s long-running multiplayer network from the subscription service that provides access to it.
The name change will be the first given to the service since its creation back in 2002.
“‘Xbox network’ refers to the underlying Xbox online service, which was updated in the Microsoft Services Agreement,” a Microsoft representative told Stevivor. “The update from ‘Xbox Live’ to ‘Xbox network’ is intended to distinguish the underlying service from Xbox Live Gold memberships.”
Xbox Live memberships themselves made headlines back in January 2021 after Microsoft advised it was raising the price of the service across the board. That move was ultimately scrapped; moreover, free-to-play games won’t require an Xbox Live subscription after all the smoke had cleared.
What do you make of the Xbox Network?
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