Remember your Xbox avatar? Well, you will soon lose the ability to change them. Xbox has quietly announced that it will be shutting down the Xbox Avatar Editor, and therefore essentially all Xbox avatar functionality, early next year.
Microsoft wrote on Xbox Support Page (spotted by Pure Xbox) that it is discontinuing the app, which allows you to create and customize your avatar using items that can be purchased from the Xbox Store, on January 9, 2025, due to “low engagement” and the need to re-prioritize it to other projects.
“Players can still personalize their gaming experience with dynamic backgrounds and profile colors on Xbox consoles, as well as original Xbox avatars, profile themes and player images on Xbox consoles and PC,” Microsoft continued. You can also continue to apply your avatar as your player image, but you will no longer be able to change its appearance or access it anywhere else. You will need to make this type of change to your gamer image using the Xbox Original Avatars app.
The exception are Xbox 360 games that allowed the apply of an avatar, e.g 1 in 100two Doritos Crash Course games (yes, apparently there were two!) and Kinect Sports. Xbox clarifies that the change will not affect original Xbox avatars in supported games. Players who purchased items for their avatar from November 1, 2023 will also receive a refund.
Xbox Avatars, now called Original Xbox Avatars, were introduced in 2008 with the Xbox 360. They are similar to Nintendo’s Mii feature, which allowed players to customize their own 3D version. According to Kotakuthey worked on them at Rare, which wanted to create an avatar system that would be tied to a user’s account even across different games. Former lead artist at Rare Lee Musgrave said that much of the game’s success was due to its presence throughout the Xbox ecosystem at the time.
“There are avatars on the front of every Xbox console, and when you buy a new box, one of the first things you’re asked to do is create an avatar,” Musgrave said.
In 2018, avatars also underwent a redesign for Xbox One, offering more comprehensive customization options such as prosthetics.
However, over time they became less significant. While you still need to set a player image when registering, you can choose between other images. They were also less observable in other areas of the interface. In the case of Xbox Series X/S, they almost completely disappeared. So if you forgot you had it, you’re probably not alone.
