Shami's Blog

It’s really frustrating when your Xbox fails. Let’s say you were lucky enough to still have your console under warranty, or decide to buy a replacement. But what happens to all those arcade games you’ve spent a fortune on?

Microsoft’s licensing scheme for downloadable content is, IMHO, very good. Each game is linked to the gamertag and the console that first downloaded it. So if you download a game on your home console any account installed on that console can play it, and you can play that game on any console as long as you’re logged in with your gamertag.

Now lets say you got a new console and you’re using it with multiple gamertags (Family, friends, …etc). Your gamertag will play it fine but the other gamertags won’t. The solution is simple. Just head to https://live.xbox.com/signup/UIPStartPage.aspx?appid=ConsoleLicenseTransfer and migrate your licenses to the new console. This will enable all gamertags installed on that console to play those games.

Be warned though; The tool migrates ALL your licenses to the new console, so if you bought something for a friend on a different console he/she won’t be able to play it any more. And you won’t be able to migrate to a different console for at least a year.

Happy gaming everybody