Microsoft flip-flops on Xbox 360 store

Microsoft has reversed course after initially saying that the Xbox 360 digital storefront would be shut down, now saying it’s sticking around.

Xbox fans have been left confused after Microsoft backflipped on a controversial decision to close the Xbox 360 digital storefront.

A notice posted on the official US support website for the Xbox platform stated that the Xbox 360 Marketplace, which is the digital storefront for the console, would be shutting down soon. The notice was posted to Reddit, and then subsequently shared on Twitter, where it was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

“We will be closing the Xbox 360 Marketplace over the next year,” the notice read, “So we encourage you to purchase any 360 games or DLC by May 2023”.

It’s not known how long the notice had been live on the support website, but clicking on the article which contained the excerpt led to a separate notice about a series of games due to be delisted soon. If implemented, it would mean thousands of games would become unavailable on the 18-year-old console.

Fans of the console were outraged about the closure, with many accusing Microsoft of hypocrisy after previous comments from the company said it was dedicated to preserving legacy titles. While Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles support backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games, less than 25% of the system’s library are compatible on the newer consoles, and many are not available to purchase outside of the 360 Marketplace.

In a surprising twist, however, Microsoft removed the notice from the support website, and a spokesperson for the company told Gematsu that the notice was posted “in error”.

“This message was posted in error and we can confirm the Xbox 360 marketplace will not close in May 2023,” the statement said, “As a reminder, beginning on February 7, 2023, a limited set of games, add-ons, and in-game content will no longer be purchasable in select markets via the Xbox 360 Store”.

The Xbox 360 marketplace will not close in May 2023, a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed to Gematsu. A listing stating it would close, which appears when searching for "Xbox 360 Markteplace" on the Xbox Support website, was posted in error. pic.twitter.com/NYL41C0pW5

— Gematsu (@gematsu) February 3, 2023

Microsoft announced a list of 46 games that would be removed from the Xbox 360 store earlier in the week, though stressed that games that are purchasable on the Xbox One and Series stores will still be available there. The full list is below:

• Aegis Wing
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
• Assassin’s Creed 3
• Assassin’s Creed 4
• Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
• Blood of the Werewolf
• Blue Dragon
• Breakdown
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
• Castle Crashers
• Cloning Clyde
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Dark Souls
• Darksiders II
• DAYTONA USA
• Defense Grid
• Eets: Chowdown
• Far Cry 2
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Iron Brigade
• Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad
• Jet Set Radio
• Left 4 Dead
• Left 4 Dead 2
• LIMBO
• Lost Odyssey
• Mass Effect 2
• MONOPOLY DEAL
• Mutant Blobs Attack
• N+
• Outpost Kaloki X
• Peggle 2
• Phantom Breaker:Battle Grounds
• Prince of Persia
• R.U.S.E.
• Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
• Skate 2
• South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Spelunky
• Splinter Cell: Conviction
• Star Wars Battlefront
• Star Wars KOTOR 2
• The Orange Box
• The Raven Episode 1
• The Witcher 2

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is one of the games soon to be delisted from the Xbox 360 store. Picture: Ubisoft

The news comes after Sony announced it was cutting its free games program for PS5 owners, opting to shut down the PlayStation Plus Collection that gave PS Plus subscribers 20 games at no additional cost.

Battle royale game Rumbleverse was also announced to be shutting down earlier this week, just six months after the game launched. The game was developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Epic Games, and many suspect that Epic was the driving force behind the shutdown.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.