A Proper Sunset – Xbox 360 Marketplace Discounts Ahead July Closure

The Xbox 360 is a console that needs no introduction. It established much of what is Xbox today, from franchises to a major online focus. It defined what it means to be an Xbox.

Ahead of the storefront’s closure on July 29th, 2024, Microsoft is offering a store-wide discount starting May 2024.

Xbox 360 Marketplace Discounts

Xbox has stated the following on the official Xbox website;

To celebrate the legacy of Xbox 360, we’re working with our amazing publishing partners to bring you as many price reductions from our online store or from the Xbox 360 Store on the console. We’ll be updating this list with more games on June 18, 2024, and on July 16, 2024, bringing you as many repriced games as possible before the end of July. These price reductions will remain in place for each game through the 360 store closing on July 29, 2024.

It’s important to know that this change will not affect your ability to play Xbox 360 games or DLC you have already purchased — Xbox 360 game content previously purchased will still be available to play.

Currently a majority of the discounted games are Kinect titles but as the weeks go on, more major releases will be discounted. Microsoft assured content purchased is still accessible, regardless of the store closures.

Also worth noting that well over 600 Xbox 360 games are backward compatible with current Xbox platforms. The games that are backward compatible for the time being, will not be deslited off the Series X/S storefronts.

Why is the Marketplace Being Closed?

When asked about this decision, Xbox stated the following back in August 2023;

A lot has changed since the Xbox 360 launched in 2005. Technology has evolved, expectations from players have shifted, and we are focused on making Xbox Series X|S the best place to play now and in the future.

What has not changed is our commitment to preserving your ability to play the content you have already purchased on your preferred device, which means we are committed to supporting Xbox 360 gameplay for the foreseeable future – and you will still be able to play and re-download previously purchased content and connect with friends.

It is hard to trust Xbox leadership at their word, considering recent events. Clearly though, this decision was made to save money, investing into the Xbox Series platforms.

And despite only over 600 games being officially playable on Series consoles and Xbox One, that still is a genuine effort made by Xbox to preserve, or at the very least, let people access their libraries across generations.

Overall Thoughts

Xbox’s efforts in backward compatibility are a major reason I got my Xbox Series X. So, seeing this 360-store closure is saddening. And a knock-off effect likely will be PlayStation potentially shutting down the PlayStation 3 and Vita storefronts for good.

Nintendo shuttered the Wii U and 3DS online storefronts in 2024, joining Xbox and potentially PlayStation in this closure of storefronts.

While I cannot fault Xbox doing their ‘best’ to do right by their consumers and letting them purchase titles they might be interested in at significantly reduced cost. It begs some questions. Is there a better way we can preserve our gaming history? How can we continue accessing our old content, on our own terms? And will future generations have this same issue of keeping storefronts alive?

Hopefully a good answer to all of this is offered sooner than later.