Xbox is making big changes to avatars in January 2025

It’s been a long time since Xbox avatars felt like a big deal, and to be honest, we rarely see anyone talking about them these days. That’s ultimately why Microsoft is announcing today the retirement of the Xbox Avatar Editor.

On 9 January 2025that app (with the Avatar style you see in the image above) will no longer be available. If you created an avatar using the app, it also no longer exists, along with any items you may have purchased.

Microsoft says the reasoning is due to “low engagement with the program,” which allows Team Xbox to focus on “delivering other player experiences” instead. If you happen to have purchased items for your avatar since November 1, 2023, you should get an automatic refund for them after the Xbox Avatar Editor app is removed.

“All Xbox Avatar purchases from November 1, 2023 through January 9, 2025 will be refunded to your valid payment instrument after the Xbox Avatar Editor app is no longer available. You can check your purchase and refund history. here.”

Avatars don’t disappear quitehowever. This is where it gets confusing – the Xbox Original Avatars app will still remain after January 9, which pertains to the OG version of Avatars introduced back in 2008. These can still be used on Xbox 360 and in certain games (like Doritos Crash Course) , and it will continue for the foreseeable future.

So basically, it’s the modern version of Xbox Avatars that will be disappearing early next year. There’s not really much to do before then, but if you’re a fan of using your Xbox Avatar as your gamer image, now is the time to change it if necessary. To do this, go to your profile, press the “change gamerpic” button, create a new one and select “take a picture of my avatar”. It will soon be gone forever, so it might be worth taking a picture for the history books!

We provide a comparison of the Xbox Avatar Editor app and the Xbox Original Avatars app below:

Microsoft: “We’re dedicated to delivering great experiences for gamers and offer a variety of options to customize their experience with Xbox. Gamers can choose from dynamic backgrounds and profile colors on Xbox consoles and customize their Xbox Original Avatar, profile themes and gamer photos on both Xbox consoles and PC. Earlier this month, we also introduced a new feature that allows gamers to more easily create gamer images from their performance art or screenshots and zoom and crop images when setting a home background on their console.“