Choosing an Xbox Live Gamertag can often be a very frustrating experience with millions of popular names already taken. However, it may get slightly easier to grab a new Gamertag that you want starting tomorrow as Microsoft are set to make available 1 million expired Gamertags.
Microsoft normally charges users to change their gamertag, however, they are offering these new Gamertags for free to current Xbox Live Gold members who have an active subscription.
The Gamertags that are being made available by Microsoft were originally taken during the days of the original Xbox, but were never migrated over to Xbox 360, therefore most of these names have been inactive for nearly a decade.
If you want to grab a new name, the expired Gamertags will be made available from 7pm UK time tomorrow and will be released over a period of 24 hours to allow people in other timezones a chance to take some of the most popular Gamertags.
To be able to claim one of these “new” Gamertags, you can do so by visiting Xbox.com or from within the Xbox One dashboard. Alternatively, you can use the Xbox App on Windows 10 to claim yours. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to grab a name from within the Xbox 360.
A list of the re-released Gamertags hasn’t been revealed by Microsoft, but they have stated that they will fall under these 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
