Xbox 360 gracefully discontinued

“We have made the decision to stop manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles”

Says Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. As he goes on to explain that “the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep up on us”.

Despite this announcement, things are not as bleak as they sound. His blog post goes on to mention the great achievements of the 360 over the last decade. Some of these including “over 78 billion gaming hours played, nearly 486 billion Gamerscore on 27 billion achievements and over 25 billion hours spent in apps over its lifetime.”

As a 360 owner, I believe Microsoft are making the right decision. The Xbox One is well on its way now despite its initial troubled start and its time that Xbox One started to get 100% of the focus. Microsoft have already started conversion of 360 titles on to the Xbox One platform. So in reality, this is not the end of the road for the 360, more the beginning of its legacy.

Phil mentions how “Franchises like Gears of War were born on the 360, and established blockbusters like Halo really came into their own during this console generation”. But there were plenty of other franchises that did great on the platform and its not surprising when you realise just how many games were made during those last 10 years… 4000.

All said and told, here are the key facts on how this may affect you:

• “Xbox 360 owners will continue to receive Xbox Live services for their console, such as online multiplayer gaming and parties, access to the apps they use today, and Games with Gold and Deals with Gold.
• Xbox Live servers that support Xbox 360 services will also remain online and active. Our Xbox 360 fans can continue to play their favorite games with the full support of Xbox Live.
• Gamers will also be able to continue to buy over 4,000 Xbox 360 games or Xbox 360 accessories at retail and through our Xbox 360 store online, while supplies last.
• Any Xbox 360 hardware will still be supported at xbox.com/support.
• And Xbox One owners will be able to continue to enjoy available Xbox 360 games through Xbox One Backward Compatibility – at no additional cost.”

“Xbox 360 means a lot to everyone in Microsoft”