Xbox
The Xbox 360 Marketplace has officially shut down today, after 19 years of service
After almost 20 years, the Xbox 360 Marketplace has finally closed its doors, which means that you won’t be able to buy any of its titles anymore.
Today is an important date for the video game industry, as we lose yet another digital storefront and access to the thousands of games available there: The Xbox 360 Marketplace has officially shut down on July 29, 2024, and it’s taking with it the chance to buy any of the games that were available in it.
Having opened almost 19 years ago alongside the launch of the Xbox 360, we’ve known that this day would come sooner rather than later, as Microsoft themselves announced as such with one year in advance, back in August 2023. While many rushed to try and get as much as possible out of the digital store, it’s still terrible news to know that you no longer can acquire certain treasures that are now locked behind these gates. Especially when it comes to video game preservation.
“Almost 19 years on, all good things must come to an end,” said Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, on Twitter/X. “We are in the final 24 hours (or so) of the Xbox 360 Marketplace. It was my pleasure sharing all the thousands of marketplace sales and updates I’ve given over the years.”
“Thank for having fun, playing fair and filing feedback,” he said. Hryb was a veteran at Microsoft, working with them for 22 years before leaving his position as Senior Director of Corporate Communications. What that meant is that during his time with the company, he was also extremely involved as one of the main faces of the Xbox brand, and was known for his enthusiasm for everything offered in the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
However sad this news may be, it’s important to remember that users are not losing access to their games, even though they can no longer purchase anything else. As long as they maintain their accounts active, people can still access every game and DLC content they’ve previously bought in the store, download them, and play them with no restrictions. This will be the case until Microsoft chooses to turn off these servers, if (or more accurately, when) it happens.
Alongside this, the Microsoft Movies & TV app will no longer work on Xbox 360 hardware, which means that TV and movie content will no longer be viewable on the console.
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