Xbox 360 consoles will soon be gone from shelves, but Xbox Live services, servers and more to continue
After a decade, Microsoft is now putting the Xbox 360 to rest. By this, the company is now stopping the production for new Xbox 360 consoles with the older Xbox’s 10th birthday.
The Xbox 360 served as the platform on which Microsoft had refined and revolutionised some of its services, including the Kinect, the Xbox Live and even the start of some of its well-known franchises. However, it appears that the company is ready to turn a new page.
“Xbox 360 means a lot to everyone in Microsoft. And while we’ve had an amazing run, the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep on us. Which is why we have made the decision to stop manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer over at the Xbox Wire.
Xbox 360 consoles may be running out from the shelves in the near future, but since there are still some that are in the inventory, there will be continued selling with varying availability per country.
Even though Microsoft is putting a stop to the hardware, the services that Xbox 360 gamers have come to enjoy will still be available. Xbox Live services for the Xbox 360 will still continue. These include the Games with Gold and Deals with Gold discount offers, access to apps and online multiplayer gaming. The Xbox 360 consoles will still be support at the official Xbox support page.
One interesting thing to note in Microsoft’s announcement is that gamers will supposedly still be able to enjoy the many Xbox 360 games and accessories either via retail or through the online store while supplies last. This hints that even the production of games previously released for the Xbox 360 may be seeing an end in the near future.
The announcement also emphasised that Xbox One owners can still enjoy Xbox 360 games made available via the Xbox One backward compatibility feature for free. This is interesting because it appears to be a slight plug for the Xbox One as a console that could replace Xbox 360 once it fully phases out in the market.
The new comes close at the heels of a new-found Xbox device being tested by Microsoft. As previously reported by The Verge, some filings were found hinting to a possible Xbox One model, though details are still undisclosed, at least until June.
It’s also a wonder that the announcement came close to the recent report that may have allegedly outed the Xbox One sales figures. An EA executive had allegedly outed the combined total sales for the PS4 and Xbox One. And with Sony regularly rolling out the figures for its console, some quick calculations can point to a smaller sales figures for Microsoft’s Xbox One.
Still, if the new Xbox One device is the real deal, this may really be the time for Xbox 360 players to switch up and go for the newer console.
