Microsoft has recently issued a correction to a statement that had caused a widespread misunderstanding amongst gamers, who had mistakenly believed that the Xbox 360 marketplace was shutting down. This came after the announcement that 46 Xbox 360 games will be delisted from the market on February 7, 2023. This news caused a stir in the gaming community, with many concerned about the long-term availability of Xbox 360 digital games.
The confusion was further fueled by a message that appeared on the Xbox Support page, which stated that the Xbox 360 marketplace would be closing for a year, beginning in May 2023. This message prompted gamers to rush and purchase any games or DLC they were interested in before the marketplace shut down. However, Microsoft has since added a corrective message to the Xbox 360 Support page that clarifies that the message about the one-year closure of the marketplace was posted in error and the store will not be shutting down for a year, starting from May 2023.
It is important to note that this is not the first time a company has shut down an online store, effectively making many digital titles inaccessible or much more difficult to find. In July 2022, Nintendo announced that the Wii U and 3DS eShops would be closing down on March 27, 2023, and players would no longer be able to purchase digital games for those platforms. Furthermore, in January 2023, the Google Stadia cloud gaming service was also shut down after just over three years on the market.
The Xbox 360 marketplace will not close in May 2023, a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed to Gematsu. A listing stating it would close, which appears when searching for "Xbox 360 Markteplace" on the Xbox Support website, was posted in error. pic.twitter.com/NYL41C0pW5
— Gematsu (@gematsu) February 3, 2023
Despite the announcement of the massive delisting of 46 Xbox 360 games, they will still be available on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility. This means that players will still be able to play their favorite games on the newer consoles, even if they are no longer available on the Xbox 360 marketplace.
It is still not entirely clear why the message about the one-year closure of the Xbox 360 marketplace was posted in error, but there has been some speculation that the mistake was the year mentioned in the message, which many believe was meant to say May 2024. Others think that Microsoft decided to walk back the idea entirely, due to the intense backlash from the gaming community.
In conclusion, Microsoft’s correction of the statement has put the minds of Xbox 360 gamers at ease, and they can now rest assured that the Xbox 360 marketplace will not be shutting down in May 2023. However, it is still advisable for gamers to keep an eye out for any future announcements from Microsoft regarding the future of the Xbox 360 marketplace and to make sure that they have purchased any games or DLC that they are interested in before they are no longer available.