Microsoft has confirmed that theXbox 360marketplace will not be shutting down in May, despite the rumors that have been whirling around on social media recently. Gamers were already greatly concerned when it was revealed that46 Xbox 360 games will be delisted from the marketplaceon February 7. People who already own the games will be able to download them even after their removal, but this still sent players scrambling to make sure that they have purchased any titles that pique their interest.To add further fuel to the fervor, shortly after Microsoft’s announcement of the massive delisting, a message appeared on the Xbox Support page. It said that, beginning in May 2023, theXbox 360marketplace would be closed for the next year, and players were encouraged to buy any games or DLC before that date. Whether this meant the marketplace would reopen after a year was unclear, as was the reasoning behind the closure. Understandably, gamers were alarmed by this one-two punch involving the long-term availability of Xbox 360 digital games.RELATED:Knockout City is Shutting DownMicrosoft has since added a corrective message to the Xbox 360 Support page that clarifies that the message about a one-year closure of the marketplace was posted in error. The store will not be shutting down for a year beginning in May, although the 46 titles previouslylisted will indeed be removed.
Though reassuring, it still makes one wonder why such a message was even written to be accidentally posted in the first place. There has been some conjecture that the actual mistake was the year in the message, which many think was meant to say May 2024. Upon seeing the intense backlash at the idea of the Xbox 360 marketplace closing, however, some people think Microsoft walked back the idea entirely.
It wouldn’t be unprecedented that a company shut down an online store, effectively making a multitude of digital titles inaccessible or much more difficult to find. In July 2022, Nintendo announced that theWii U and 3DS eShops will be closing downon Jun 17, 2025. After that date, players will more or less no longer be able to purchase digital games for those platforms.
In January, theGoogle Stadia cloud gaming service shut downafter just over three years on the market. While that was a sad moment for many gamers, at least most of those titles remain readily available on other platforms. Likewise, it’s important to note that, although dozens of Xbox 360 games are getting delisted on February 7, they will still be available on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility.
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