XBMC Is Now 'Kodi'

XBMC has announced that the popular media center software is being renamed 'Kodi'.

Since 2002, the software known as XBMC has gone through three namings. First, it was called Xbox Media Player. Upon realizing that it did a bit more than your traditional media player, in 2004 the development team elected to rename it Xbox Media Center. A mere 4 years later in 2008, the team once again elected to rename the software to simply XBMC, given that it had moved on from its original roots on the Xbox. Support for the Xbox was dropped shortly thereafter. Today it’s all happening one last time.

The developers say that the 'XBMC' name made little given that the software barely runs on the original Xbox and has never run on the Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Also, it now performs many more functions then your typical media center. Finally, there have been legal issues with the name.


The average user will see little difference with the new Kodi. The software will remain the same. Users will get to keep using the software however they like. The code will remain licensed under the GPL 2.0. We even intend to stick with our current numbering scheme. Our next release will be titled Kodi 14. Indeed, the most significant difference for most people will be a slightly altered splash screen on boot up.

More details on the transition can be found at the link below. You can also grab the very first build of Kodi 14.0 “Helix”alpha2.

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