Last week, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox 360 store will close on July 29, 2024, removing the ability to purchase games, DLC, and entertainment from the store on console and the Xbox 360 Marketplace. The closure won’t affect any of the purchases you’ve already made, and the titles available in the backwards compatibility program will continue to be sold on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.Xbox boss Phil Spencer says that “it’s a very small community,” and as such, the move to close down the 360 stores will allow the team to “focus our effort on where players are and where they can buy,” which is on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.Phil Spencer says: “Game preservation is critical to us at Team Xbox”When speaking to Eurogamer, Spencer discussed Microsoft’s plans to close down the Xbox 360 store, which “was really just about the hardware and the lifespan of the hardware.” The Xbox 360 store will be 18 years old this November, almost 19 years old when it closes next year, and while it makes sense that Microsoft is looking to spend those resources elsewhere, our poll last week revealed that from 6,131 responses, 53% of players don’t agree that it’s time to close the Xbox 360 store.”It’s a pretty small community. The community of buyers is very, very small. So as the back end — which is tied to that hardware, roughly — starts to kind of bring down just from a sustainability [point], and almost all the players have moved on, we’re like, ‘okay, we can focus our effort on where the players are and where they can buy.’ So, you can still go buy all the back compat games; all the multiplayer stuff all works. I think that’s pretty cool.”Spencer also spoke about Microsoft’s commitment to game preservation and how Xbox is attempting to handle game preservation for the future. “One of the things we do is ship all of our games on PC, because I actually think PC is the best ecosystem for game preservation because it’s not tied to one piece of hardware. So, at the meta-level, if we think about video games as pieces of software, the more that software isn’t dependent on a physical device, the more preserved it can be in the long run,” Spencer said. “On the 360, I love our back compat and the work that we’ve done. And maybe it’s a little bit of grandiose to say, but I think it’s world-class, what the team has done around back compat, even on Gen 9. Not only does it run, but the best place to go play those games is through the back compat layer on a Series S or X. I love it, I think it’s awesome.”The backwards compatibility program was announced in 2015 for the Xbox One, which would strive to make previous original Xbox and Xbox 360 games compatible with new hardware — a similar deal to what the Xbox 360 had. Since 2015, over 450 titles had been given the backwards compatibility treatment before the program ended, leaving only a small selection of games behind — I’m still sour over the fact that Lollipop Chainsaw and Hunted: Demon’s Forge didn’t make the cut! However, Spencer says that he hasn’t forgotten the non-backwards compatible games.”There’s a list of, what, 220 games that are not back compat, and I have that list and I’ve got it stapled on my forehead, and like, how can we make sure [you can play them still?] How many of those are on PC? That’s one thing, because it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be able to play it on the existing hardware that you bought 15 years ago, but preservation is front and center when all these decisions are made,” Spencer says. “I will say for us that preservation that’s linked to only one piece of hardware is a challenge. Because there can be hardware love as well — people who love and want this device to do this forever — but mechanical things will break over time. But that’s why we gave people with this decision a year. Let’s say ‘hey, if you want to go buy things in the 360 store, we’re going to give you a year headstart, and you can go get those things.’ And just know that the list of the 220 games is something that we see, and we would love to find solutions for those games to continue to play.”In the same interview, Phil Spencer also said that he doesn’t “see a world” where Microsoft drops the Xbox Series S.
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