Xbox Live Silver to be called 'Xbox Live Free Membership'

Microsoft is renaming its (free) Xbox Live Silver service to "Xbox Live Free Membership," according to a tweet from European community manager Graeme Boyd. This comes alongside the refreshed Xbox.com and, of course, the Xbox Live Gold price hike, as part of an apparent pre-Kinect relaunch of the Xbox's online presence.

The new name no longer emphasizes Silver's status as subordinate to Gold, but rather highlights the advantage of that level of membership -- the fact that it's free. In a followup tweet, Boyd clarified that the feature set for Silver won't change and neither will the name for the paid membership. If you're Gold now, you'll stay gold.