Xbox News: 1 Million Old Gamertags Now Available For Players [VIDEO]

Gamertags on Xbox accounts have become quite a novelty during the last few years. After all, with gamertags only allowed to be used once, it was no surprise that a lot of great tags have already been taken since Xbox Live started. Now, however, this might change, as Microsoft recently announced that about 1 million old, unused gamertags would be made available once more.

The special offer, which is set to be launched on May 18, is available to any Xbox Live Gold member who has compiled a year's worth of Gold status since 2002. Thus, players who have been in Gold status for at least a year would enjoy the rare privilege of having their gamertags modified into something that is far more awesome and unique.

According to Microsoft, the gamertags that the firm would release back into the wild would be coming from Xbox accounts that were created and later abandoned. What is even more interesting is that the gamertags would be coming from original Xbox accounts. Not Xbox 360 or Xbox One accounts. Original Xbox accounts, from way back early 2000's.

Indeed, during the first years of Xbox Live, a lot of great gamertags were immediately taken by the system's first players. These gamertags include proper names, pop-culture references, food, science and tech terms, animals and even a number of prominent inventions through history. Of course, some of these gamertags were eventually abandoned through the years, as Xbox Live accounts were discontinued by players.

Xbox Live users would need to jump at the opportunity to change their gamertags, however, as the special offer is set to expire within 24 hours. Considering that the promotion is set to start on May 18 at 2 p.m. EST, Xbox Live users who wish to take advantage of the rare opportunity are suggested to initiate the gamertag change now.

Gamertags could be changed through the Xbox system, or better yet, through a browser. To do this, players must simply log into their Xbox Live accounts, go to the Xbox Settings page  and select Change Gamertag from the options.

Once this is done, all players would need to do is type out their preferred gamertag and check the availability of the name. If the gamertag is available, players must click on the Claim It button. Doing so effectively changes the player's gamertag.

For those who would wish to change their gamertags, all we could say is "Good Luck!"