I’ve been asked this question more than I can count over the years.  “Why can’t we use Gamertags that aren’t being used or haven’t been used in years?”  It never made sense to me that you couldn’t recycle old Gamertags or “dead” Gamertags.  It seems as if Microsoft has figured out a way to make these zombies rise from the dead after all.

Soon you’ll be able to use that old Gamertag that you wish you could use or that you’ve researched and figured out that no one uses anymore.

Larry Hryb, Xbox Live Director of Programming, said “This process will take some time to complete, and no we can’t tell you when the Gamertag you want might be available.”

“If you are interested, you should check back regularly as we are reviving Gamertags daily. Sign into Xbox Live and go to the My Xbox channel, then select Change Gamertag. From here you can either choose from the random name generator, or you can enter a specific Gamertag to see if it’s available.”