Why Is Xbox Called That?

On its surface, the Xbox has its name solely because each console contains an “X” of some variety on its exterior. The original Xbox featured a large “X” across its top surface and grille, with a smaller green circle with the Xbox name engraved in the center. Since then, a much smaller, circular logo with a rounded “X” in the middle has appeared on each of the console’s subsequent generations, and even the Xbox’s Kinect peripheral, often doubling as the system’s power button. However, the “X’s” presence fails to answer the true question: “From where did the Xbox name originate?”

The Xbox moniker was derived from one of the console’s original project names, the DirectX Box. DirectX is the Microsoft-owned brand of application programming interfaces, or API’s, installed into Windows to help software communicate with audio and video hardware. The DirectX team turned to the gaming console market in the late ’90s as a way to expand the platform’s future.

The Xbox name, believe it or not, then originated as a filler title while the company considered better options. “So we were going to make a box, which is what people call a machine or a system,” Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley told Time Extension. “A box for DirectX. So it was the DirectX box. And eventually, we called it Xbox assuming there would be a better name coming along at some point.” However, the Xbox name ultimately stuck.

The Xbox was almost named differently

While the DirectX Box may be the most noteworthy name the Xbox almost had before it launched in November 2001, other variations of the Direct X Box concept were thrown around, including the DirectXXX-Box and plainly the XXX-Box. These were a joking reference to Direct X’s focus on more open, mature content compared to Sony and Nintendo systems, though.

It was also given the codename “Midway,” though the company was dedicated to associating the console with the DirectX brand. DirectX later settled on “Xbox,” and its various spelling interpretations, as its development nickname and, eventually, the brand name gamers would come to know and love. Even if you aren’t completely familiar with the Xbox name’s origins, fans may agree that the label has a strong aura.

Though there’s been some confusion regarding its successor’s names — the 360, One, and Series X/S — some gamers may agree that the original Xbox name has the same edgy, mysterious vibe it did back during the original system’s launch. However, others are not as sure it’d have the same effect if it had been initially revealed today. “For the time it was cool, if revealed now it would be a bit silly I think,” a Facebook user commented. Either way, it’s hard to deny the Xbox name is as, if not more, iconic in the modern gaming sphere.