Xbox Gamertags will soon expire after five years, should you go that long without signing into Xbox Live.

This stipulation was snuck into the changes made in Microsoft's new service agreement.

"Notice that Xbox now requires that you sign in at least every five years to keep your gamertag active," the company plainly stated. "If you don't sign in during this time, we will assume your Microsoft account is inactive and will close it for you."

The good news is that these terms don't take effect until 15th September.

Earlier this year Microsoft announced that it would put nearly 1m expired Gamertags back into circulation. These were handles used during Xbox Live's embryonic years on the original Xbox, meaning they were over a decade old. Comparatively, five years isn't that long, especially if someone misses out on a console cycle or doesn't bother to play online.