Microsoft rename Xbox Live Marketplace to ‘Xbox Games Store’

Out with the old, in with the new. You can forget the Xbox Live Marketplace because Microsoft want to call it the Xbox Games Store now.

Microsoft killed the name on Friday, rebranding it in a new effort to ‘simplify' their multiple platforms well in advance of the Xbox One console launch later this year (or 2014 if you live outside the selected list of countries Microsoft will be supporting initially).

An unnamed Microsoft representative spoke with Joystiq and said “That's right, [Xbox Live Marketplace] is now called the Xbox Games Store, and will sit alongside the Xbox Music Store and Xbox Video Store. This is to make it easier for consumers to find content both on Xbox 360 today and Xbox One when it launches in November.”

The interface is almost identical to before, although the ‘points' system has been relegated. Last Monday Microsoft did away with the points system, moving currency to standard cash equivalents. If you had points in the system when the change happened, the conversion took place for you automatically.

Microsoft will also accept Microsoft points cards until ‘further notice'. If you use them, the points get converted automatically into cash in the system.

The new Xbox Games Store will sit alongside the Xbox Music Store and the Xbox Video Store. Microsoft are keen to remind everyone that the Xbox One is not just designed for gaming, it is a universal device set to the the only (‘One') piece of hardware you will need in the future. Wishful thinking we feel, but that's the official stance.

Kitguru says: A step in the right direction?

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