It’s really hard to believe, but the Xbox 360 has been around for almost two decades now. Microsoft’s entry in the seventh console generation came out in 2005, 18 years ago as of the time of writing. Since then, a successor, the Xbox One, came out in 2013, and successors to that successor, the Xbox Series X and Series S, came out in 2020. Still, that console was so popular that it’s still used a fair bit today, and Microsoft has kept its online store around. Until now, anywya.
Microsoft has announced that it’s officially closing the Xbox 360’s online storefront, the Xbox Games Store, for new purchases on July 29th, 2024. In this date, you will no longer be able to buy new games or DLCs, and access will be limited to the online library only. Microsoft is also winding down the Microsoft Movies & TV app on the Xbox 360, and this one will cease functioning on this date as well.
The company wants to make it very clear that it’s not killing off the console because of this change. If you have an Xbox 360 and you’re still using it today, you’ll keep access to all the games you bought on the console. Likewise, if you ever need to re-download any of them, the servers will remain up for you to do so. The only thing you’re losing is the ability to actually buy new titles and content for games.
Xbox 360 games will also remain fully buyable on both the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X/S on the Microsoft Store thanks to backwards compatibility, so really, this only affects those who are using the original console. Still, this means that those games that are not eligible for backwards compatibility, as well as games that are not available physically (such as indie titles released on Xbox Live Arcade that are not in the backwards compatibility list) will be gone forever for those that didn’t get to buy them on time, and the only way to get them will be either through modding or emulation.
Microsoft is also making it clear that you’ll still be able to play online games with the console, as its online services will remain online. On this last bit, though, your mileage may vary — while technically the Xbox 360’s online services will remain up, finding a game that actually has working servers could prove tricky.
If you have an Xbox 360 and you have some games you want to check out on it, make sure to do so before the date is up next year. You have plenty of time to do so and have fun with them.
Source: Xbox Wire
