Whether it is something you thought up off the top of your head when you were a teenager, a nickname you want thrown into the abyss or a reference which you cringe at everytime someone mentions your online profile name – not all of us have great public-facing usernames on gaming consoles. While I am fond of my Xbox Gamertag for example, I don’t like to go around boasting my PlayStation Network ID out of (a sort of) embarrassment.
But while there is no way to change your PlayStation Network ID, Microsoft have generously provided means for you to change your Xbox Gamertag for many years now. But there is a problem…. over the years the pool of interesting and unique names have dropped.
As of approximately 15 minutes ago from my beginning to write this article, Microsoft have begun to release a large number of previously-unavailable Gamertags to the public. Or more specifically, they will be progressively making these names available over a 24 hour period to those who have an active Xbox Live Gold membership and at least a 1 year cumulative Gold tenure.
Now you might be wondering if an old account you made could have lost its Gamertag. This is what Will Tuttle (Xbox Wire Editor in Chief) had to say:
These Gamertags are from the original Xbox era, the same source of Gamertags we used in our 2011 release. These accounts never migrated to Xbox 360 and as a result they have been inactive for quite some time.
While Microsoft won’t be sharing the actual list of Gamertags up for grabs, they have confirmed there are many available in the following categories:
- Proper Names
- Pop culture references (Entertainment, sports, gaming)
- Types of Food
- Geography and Travel
- Science and Technology
- Math and Numbers
- Animals
- Some of the greatest inventions of all time
Access to these tags will be available from Xbox.com, in addition to the Xbox App on Windows 10 and through the Xbox One console. These Gamertags will not be available from an Xbox 360 console.
