Can Xbox please raise the gamertag limit back up to 15? Or at least support recovering?

Jonah Nelson · Jan 9, 2024

I've had a great 15-character gamertag for 11 years, one I came up with when I was 12 that is very nostalgic to me, that I just lost last night by accident by helping my friend come up with a new way for them to spell their gamertag and accidentally pressing start. There was no confirmation box; it was the first time I changed my gamertag, so it just let me do it with one click of a button after checking availability. I've called Xbox support, and it's been confirmed there is no way to change my gamertag back to what it was because of the new 12-character limit. I am angry about this. I am now trying to make the best of it by coming up with a new on-theme gamertag, but you can barely do anything good with 12 characters. It is shockingly short when you start trying to come up with good names.

If Xbox decides that this "isn't possible", can there please at least be a way to recover grandfathered-in >12 character gamertags? I had it for so long, I don't understand the commensuration between the idea of me keeping the gamertag if I didn't make the mistake and not being able to get it back. What's the difference from a system perspective between getting it back now and having it as I did?

Please just listen to a devoted Xbox user. This stinks.

:)

Rodrigo Oliver

Hi Jonah, my name is Rodrigo. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

I am sorry to hear that.

If a Staff Member confirmed that it is not possible, sadly there is nothing to be done.

I understand that you are upset with it, but the new system was designed as such.

I do hoped there was at least as time window to ask for a rollback (24h maybe).

According to the new Gamer Tag FAQ, this was done to secure the digits for the suffix if needed:

"We require at least 3 characters to auto-assign you a suffix and make sure that everybody has an equal chance to have a name they can be proud of. Many older games allowed 16 characters for displaying gamertags. We reserve three of those characters for the suffix and one for the # symbol, leaving 12 characters for Gamertags."

Source: https://support.xbox.com/help/account-profile/profile/gamertag-update-faq

ngocphi

Because people complained a our having to specially spell their name

With the hashtag system there is no need

But in reducing the character limit it allows the system to be changed to allow the hashtags without complete overhaul beyond 15 characters

Also the new system changed from 256 characters to 11000 characters allowing for different characters and symbols as xbox expands more languages are supported

HyperVenom523

Well that is too bad I hope you can fix this in the future.

AlfieeyyWith2Ys

But it's... I don't want to lose my old gamertag and 12 characters for a whole console account is just ridiculous. Like many others I wasn't thinking at the time when I changed it so now I and many gamers have gamertags we despise, if what your saying
is going to be true then I may as well stop playing if im not having a good time, I'm depressed, I'm sad and I'm angry at this change, and I don't want to leave xbox but if I can't even have a 15 character gamertag then that's just stupid, what I really want
to happen is when the xbox x series comes out, lots of new gamers will come to the platform and complain why they can only have 12 characters.

AlfieeyyWith2Ys

It is really not, now you have less posibilities with gamertags because it is 12 characters and so now everytime I think of an original gamertag its 1 or 2 or 3 characters too short, there are so many unoriginal gamertags now and I seriously need my old
15 character gamertag back.

Can Xbox please raise the gamertag limit back up to 15? Or at least support recovering?