Microsoft is changing the name of Xbox Live to the more mundane Xbox Network. The change will allow the online network to be more differentiated from the Xbox Live Gold subscription service, the company told The Verge.

The change was noticed by avid Xbox Live users over the weekend:

""Xbox Network" refers to the basic Xbox online service as updated in Microsoft's service agreement," a Microsoft representative told the site.Xbox Live" to "Xbox Network" is an update to distinguish between the Xbox Live Gold membership and the underlying service.

Interestingly, rumors of the impending name change first came to light in August 2020, when Microsoft "changed Xbox Live to be called Xbox Online Services" in its service agreement. In a statement similar to the one released today, the company denied that a name change was forthcoming and said that the change in service terminology "refers to the underlying Xbox service, including features such as cross-save and friend requests."

"This updated language is intended to distinguish its underlying service from the paid Xbox Live Gold subscription. There will be no change to the service or the Xbox Live Gold experience."

The Xbox Live name change follows similar recent moves by Electronic Arts, which renamed Origin to the EA desktop app in September 2020, and Ubisoft, which merged Uplay and Ubisoft Club into Ubisoft Connect a month later. The move follows a similar attempt by Blizzard with Battle.net in 2017, but eventually had to admit that "Battle.net" was a pretty great name to begin with and reverted back.