
Well folks, this is it. After almost 20 years on the market, the Xbox 360 digital storefront officially closes down later this month, marking the end of an incredible era for Xbox. Of course, loads of the games from that generation are now available on the new Xbox store via backwards compatibility, but the closure this month will still be a huge occasion - that console is iconic and its storefront going kaput is hard for us to wrap our heads around right now.
Still, we suppose the day was always coming at some stage, and we appreciate the heads up that Team Xbox has given us here. We've known about this store shutdown for almost a year, and some discounts have already gone live across a variety of titles - with one more batch to come on July 16th. That'll be just two weeks before the store goes away forever!
So, this serves as a quick PSA that we're in the final month ever for the Xbox 360 store, but also as a place to discuss the occasion and what it means to all of us. Have you been picking up any of these discounted games over the past couple of weeks? How do you feel about the Xbox 360 store going MIA after all this time?
Here at PX HQ, we have our eyes firmly locked on that final wave of sales in the middle of July - then we'll have a proper browse of the store and maybe get a little teary-eyed that this really is it for the Xbox 360 storefront. We've gathered up so many memories of this console over the years - thank the lord for backwards compatibility and the fact that the program has saved and modernised loads of digital 360 titles!
In the meantime, it might be worth having a look at some of the bits of free content that you can add to your Xbox account while the store is still up. Last week, we highlighted over 250 demos that remain live and downloadable for free as we speak, but they'll all be gone come July 29th. Then, there's things like themes, Gamerpic packs and other bits and pieces that'll become unobtainable in just a few weeks.
The good news is that whatever is added to your account should be accessible from your download history for some time to come, even when the store itself is closed. We still have loads of old delisted games and DLC packs on our accounts, and the majority remain downloadable and playable in 2024!
Are You Buying Anything On The Xbox 360 Store Before It Closes? (727 votes)
- Yep, I'm buying loads before it goes!
- I might get a couple of bits and pieces
- I don't know yet
- I doubt it but maybe the sales will tempt me
- Nope, I don't even use an Xbox 360 anymore!
Vote in the 360 store poll up above, and tell us your lasting memories of the Xbox Live days down in the comments.
Comments 19
I wasn't really a part of the 360 era, though I did own one that I shared with my brother. I played through the fable franchise, some of the more obscure JRPGs that Xbox got...but never really got to experience it. Then the 360 suddenly went "missing" for years, with my brother swearing he didn't know where it went...
Until he finally just gave it to me last year, acting like he'd always had it and I'd never asked. Well, now that I've finally got it I'm looking forward to diving back into the old library and seeing what I can pick up that I never got to play in this sale. I've since picked up a series S so it's not like I don't have access to a majority of the big important releases but it'll be fun to go through those truly exclusive 360 experiences.
I picked up a few so far:
Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
Frogger Anniversary
Track & Field
Street Fighter x Tekken
Burnout Crash
Will see what else goes on sale on the 16th. Spyro might get some sort of Series X|S release but didn’t want to take the chance.
I have such strong memories of the 360 era. Me and my friends playing 4 player farcry after school, co-oping Gears of War and Halo with my brother, co-oping Saints Row with my best friend, and many others. Plus it's where things changed. Online gaming became standard, the arrival of indies, and more games getting more content after launch and AAA experimenting that games still largely follow today.
Unfortunately my 360 completely gave out just after the X1 launched. So there isn't much point in me buying anything from the store.
God this feels unreal to read.
R.I.P to a legend!
I recently busted out the old Xbox 360 for some Rockband Beatles. The 360 was such a great console for just playing with friends. Having that and the Wii were just a match made in heaven for local play. I miss split screen gaming so much.
Was the best era in gaming for me but it is probably time the store closed now nothing lasts forever.
Do you need a 360 to take advantage, or could I buy some on my series x?
A few of the discounts STILL aren't even working, like Burnout 3 is still displaying as $10. 🤦♂️
@AdolBannings-Laylee It's a non-BWC sale, so yes, however I know of 2 exceptions; Black and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory can be bought from the 360 marketplace for the discounted price, and they'll work on XSX.
Now is definitely the time to check on any DLC for 360 games you might want to buy before the 360 store goes down. While most backwards compatible games should have their DLC on the One/Series Xbox store, there is still a surprising amount of stuff that is only accessible on the 360 store. I know that was the case with COD MW3 when I went to get the DLC, unavailable on One/Series, but if you open up the store in-game it takes you to the original 360 store listings and you can still buy it there. Heck it also requires you to add new downloads that will undoubtedly become inaccessible if you couldn't access the 360 store to add them to your account. Even some content that you can buy on the One/Series store might require you to access the 360 store to properly download it, as was the case with COD Black Ops 2 DLC.
@EVIL-C thank you very much
Until people mentioned it was the closing, I didn't even know it was still open. So long to a great console though
I was trying to get some of the demos from the other article using the web store, and when I would go to purchase one, it would either tell me an error occurred or tell me I have to add credit card information, even though the cards are already on my Microsoft account?
still buying games on it
@AccessibleDaydream Yeah, the 360 web store is really hit and miss these days in terms of what works. I've heard that really, the most reliable way of using the store is on an actual 360 console nowadays.
I’ve grabbed a bunch of games lately since the sale started. Still have a few more to pick off. I hooked up a 2TB external drive as well and went back and grabbed most of my downloads so I’m pretty stocked now lol. 😆 I forgot 1/2 the games I even bought over the last 20 years running! Such a shame!
All the games I want I have on disc I can play anywhere without internet connection or an account
I don't care about it, because I have Aurora. It makes my Xbox 360E eternal.
End of an era, yes....
But sorry I started with the "fat" old Black xbox. And believe me , it was really a game changer, compare to PS2.
My first contact with xbox 360? Buy day one + perfect dark = my console broke down after... less than 2 hours !! I know first hand those red rings of Death. But I came back and really we had good EXCLUSIVE games on this console. Sure Sony has more machines with PS5 than microsoft.. but I'm sorry , most of the innovative / new licence ARE on xbox serie S/X....
The end of an era of competition between those two brands ....
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