Xbox 360 Digital Store Will Close Next July

Microsoft will close its Xbox 360 digital store next July, though anything purchased will still be accessible. From a report: On 29th July 2024, Xbox 360 users will no longer be able to purchase new games, DLC, or other entertainment content from either the console store or the web-based marketplace. In addition, the Microsoft Movies & TV app on the Xbox 360 will no longer function. Of course, the store will continue as normal until that date next July. After that time, any games purchased will still remain playable and deleted purchases can still be re-downloaded. Online multiplayer will also remain accessible for games already purchased (digitally or physically), as long as the publisher supports the servers. Further, users will still be able to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles via backward compatibility, and hundreds of games will remain available to purchase on those consoles.

Shame

[jslolam]

XBOX 360 ONLY- ONLINE SERVICES WERE REDUCED OR DISABLED FOR HALO 360 GAMES ON JANUARY 13, 2022

https://support.halowaypoint.c... [halowaypoint.com]

Games like Doom and Duke Nukem had LAN capabilities that didn't rely on an externally hosted server. I'm guessing that option is removed from modern games.

Re:

[jslolam]

The Noble 14 - How 14 People Extended The Life Of The Original Xbox Live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

"On April 15th, 2010 Microsoft shut down the servers for the original Xbox Live. They let players finish their game before forcing them to quit to Xbox Live 1.0. What they didn't account for was these final 14 people who decided to stay on, long past the expiration date. This video essay will explain who the last 14 people on the original Xbox Live, and Halo 2."

Not much lost...

[Petersko]

Did a little digging. So while you won't be able to buy new DLC or 360-only games for your 360, you can continue to download and play your old purchases. You can also buy games that are made for the current consoles, but are also backwards compatible.

The movies and TV shows you purchased also continue to be available with this caveat: the 360 won't be able to play them. They're still attached to your account, and available on other devices (PC, XB One, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, FireTV)... but the player app is dead for the 360.

If you're going to kill a service, this isn't the worst way to go about it. Looks like a pretty soft landing.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Yeah, the only thing lost is the ability to buy stuff from the Xbox360.

The real loss are those games that aren't supported by the backwards compatibility - that's still a lot of games and the Live Arcade/Indie Live Arcade.

I guess the big reason is well, the Xbox360 which stopped being supported over 10 years ago, is basically aging out - things like the SSL and TLS libraries are probably horrendously outdated and vulnerable and using ancient hash and ciphers.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

It's still shitty. With GoG you get an installer that doesn't need any other app installed, which you can back up and transfer to other machines if yours dies.

The XBOX 360 wasn't that reliable to start with, and uses a mechanical HDD.

Remember when you actually owned your games ?

[RedK]

Bring back cartridges.

Re:

[KiloByte]

I still do own my games. Usually including the source. So I can play them on shiny new riscv boxen...

For old gems without source, you need an emulator anyway, be it DosBox or something of that kind.

I haven't looked at new poo in years, but cpt. Anakata provides a non-crippled version.

Re:

[thegarbz]

Bring back cartridges.

Why? What benefit would they bring? Like I get your idea but you're saying it in literally a news story about a situation where people continue to play their games as if nothing happened.

Your soapbox is on another Slashdot story.

Re:

[Petersko]

I think game ownership is overrated. Same for movies and television. We're completely saturated with media. If you never rewatched anything again, you couldn't possibly consume everything out there - not even just the "good" stuff out there. It's an absolute ocean, and it has never been cheaper. Sure, buy the handful of things you really think are irreplaceable. But better hope that the console for those cartridges never fails... When my father passed last year we threw away the collection of hunting shows

Re:

[supremebob]

The Xbox 360 is old enough to still have a DVD drive built into it. So, you can still play your physical media on them without issue.

Something tells me that the Xbox Series S won't be nearly as useful 20 years from now, considering that it's totally dependent on the Xbox Cloud services for downloading and installing games.

Re:

[Heir Of The Mess]

I don't really care that it has a DVD drive, I've been buying games online for my Xbox 360 for a long time now. I can't give up my Xbox 360 for a new console though because the new console doesn't have a Kinect, and just about every game my family plays on the 360 requires the Kinect. Up to 4 people can jump around or whatever in front of it and play a game together. It's great for fitness and family bonding. There isn't anything else that that fills this hole.

Re: Remember when you actually owned your games ?

[Susurrus]

Ok, well they're not taking away your game library. You can still redownload your games after that date. Buy what you want before that date, they haven't released new 360 games in a very long time and won't before then, so it's really on you if there's something still out there you want to buy for your 360 but haven't gotten around to.

Re:

[tepples]

If you want cartridges, look no further than Retrotainment Games [retrotainmentgames.com] and Broke Studio [brokestudio.fr].

Disclosure: I work for Retrotainment. They didn't pay me to say this.

Hell yes. Carts have always been the best format.

[MIPSPro]

High five.