Xbox 360 Store is Shutting Down Today

Microsoft is retiring the Xbox 360 Store today, July 29, after announcing plans to do so almost a year ago. This means that it will no longer be possible to purchase new Xbox 360 games and DLCs on these consoles as well as the web-based Xbox 360 marketplace.

For gamers still using their Xbox 360, it will still be possible to re-download previously purchased games and DLCs from the console’s download history. Xbox 360 games will also still prompt users to download any updates when necessary, and Microsoft isn’t shutting down Xbox 360 multiplayer and online services.

Xbox 360 games that are backwards-compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles will remain available to purchase on these consoles as well as Xbox.com. “Any purchases for backward compatible games and content that are made through an Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S will show up in your download history on an Xbox 360 as well,” Microsoft explained in an FAQ.

However, all Xbox 360 digital games that aren’t backwards compatible will no longer be purchasable after today. Microsoft kicked off an Xbox 360 digital game sale back in May, and you may want to take a look at it today before some of these games disappear in their digital form for good.

If you like fighting games, I’d recommend Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, which was exclusively released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in 2008. Street Fighter X Tekken is also one of the rare fighting games with a tag team couch co-op mode, and the Xbox 360/PS3 versions are now the only places to play as the Steam version has been broken for years due to its Games for Windows Live requirement. The Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection that includes the series’ first three games may also give you a fun shoot of nostalgia, even though these games haven’t aged too well gameplay-wise.

The Xbox 360 pioneered digital game distribution, and initiatives like Xbox Live Arcade made the console a popular platform for smaller indie games. While Xbox 360 owners will still be able to play the games they own, the Xbox 360 Store shutting down today is a bad thing for game preservation. Microsoft is also pulling the plug on its Movies & TV app on Xbox 360 today, which means that the movies and TV shows you purchased on the platform will no longer be viewable on the console.