Microsoft to Shut Down Xbox 360 Store in July 2024
- Laurent Giret
- Aug 17, 2023
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Microsoft announced today that it will pull the plug on the Xbox 360 Store on July 29, 2024. Past that date, players who still use their Xbox 360 will no longer be able to purchase any games or entertainment content from their console. The online Xbox 360 marketplace, which continues to live alongside the main Xbox digital store will also shut down on that same date.
After July 29, 2024, the Movies & TV app on Xbox 360 consoles will also stop working. Users will need to use a Windows PC or a newer Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S console to keep watching previously purchased content.
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Microsoft made it clear that the upcoming retirement of the Xbox 360 store won’t prevent Xbox 360 owners to re-download games they previously purchased. Moreover, multiplayer will continue to work, and Microsoft will continue to offer support for any Xbox 360-related questions on the Xbox support site.
“Even after July 2024, you will still be able to play games and connect with friends through multiplayer on the games you purchased, as long as the publisher still supports the online servers. You can still save your games and progress to the cloud, and if you choose to continue any of those available games on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S, those cloud saves will transfer over,” the Xbox team explained.
Xbox 360 and original Xbox games that are backwards compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles will also remain available to purchase on these consoles, in addition to xbox.com. In other words, nothing changes for owners of Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
The Xbox 360 was originally released almost 18 years ago in November 2005. Microsoft acknowledges that there are still many gamers that still use their Xbox 360 consoles, but the company is now focused on “making Xbox Series X|S the best place to play now and in the future.” In a separate FAQ, the Xbox team also confirmed that it has no plans to revive backward compatibility support for digital games that will be lost with the shutdown of the Xbox 360 store next year.