After the recent rumor about the possible decommissioning of the Live Gold subscription by Microsoft, today comes another indication that something is moving on the Xbox online services front. The Redmond company has updated the Services Agreement,which is the document that regulates customer interaction with all of its online services, removing the term Xbox Live altogether.

In the new Agreement, which will be in effect from October 1 and is found in full here,the term Xbox Live has in fact been replaced with "Xbox online service", suggesting the "scrapping"of the historic name of the Xbox service, in favor of a more generic term. Microsoft itself explains in a document that summarizes the changes to the contract:

"Inthe Xbox section and all the Terms, we updated the Xbox header, changed Xbox Live to reference the Xbox online service, and referred to Xbox consoles instead of Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles. We've updated "Xbox Services" to include the Xbox online service, Xbox Game Studios games (such as Mojang games), apps, subscriptions, services, and content provided by Microsoft. We have also clarified the actions that Microsoft can take if you use your Xbox Services account to sign in to a non-Microsoft service, such as a non-Microsoft App and Third-Party Services game publisher."

Is Microsoft ready to dismantle the historic brand that has been identifying Xbox online services for just under two decades? And if this happens, it is reasonable to assume that the "Xbox Live Gold" product, the subscription for the online game, will also undergo major changes or even cancellation, as suggested in the previous rumor.

We are waiting for official information from Microsoft: keep following us!