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On November 15, 2002, Xbox Live launched, bringing online capability to the original Xbox one year after its release. Now, the service continues to go strong 20 years and four consoles later, and long-time subscribers will get a badge on their profile to celebrate.
Xbox was the first company to bring online play to consoles when Xbox Live launched in 2002, making use of the ethernet port built into Xbox consoles. The online service saw a lot of popularity off the back of Halo 2’s success, with Xbox Live seeing a peak of around 20 million users in the console’s first generation.
Xbox Live technically goes by a different name now, with “Xbox network” intended as an umbrella term to catch all the company’s online services, including Game Pass, and Xbox Live Gold. Just before this rebranding, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live had passed 100 million monthly active users in the wake of the Series X|S release.
Despite the official rebranding, most fans still refer to the service as Xbox Live, and it hasn’t stopped Xbox from celebrating the 20 year anniversary. As announced on Twitter by Xbox’s Major Nelson, long-time users of the platform will be rewarded with a shiny 20 year badge for their profile.
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