The Xbox 360 cycle is finally coming to an end. Xbox will shut down the store in 2024. And while many titles are available with backward compatibility, an absurd number of games could disappear completely.
Approximately 220 Xbox 360 games will no longer be available to Xbox gamers. It’s a very serious situation for the preservation of video games, and Phil Spencer wants to find a clear solution to the problem.
A problem that cannot be taken for granted
The preservation of video games is very important. It allows new generations to play the titles that started it all. That is why we can see physical titles of old consoles all over the Internet.
However, there are many titles in history that will never see the light of day again. Most of them were released through online stores.
As happened with many of the Wii and Wii U titles, the Xbox 360 could be facing the same thing. Some time ago, Microsoft announced that it would be shutting down the Xbox 360 Store.
While many Xbox 360 titles are available through backward compatibility (either digital or physical), there are others that are not. This would mean that about 220 Xbox 360 titles could disappear completely.
If you have already purchased any of these games, you will still be able to download them after the store closes. However, the games will not be available to new players.
During an interview with Eurogamer, Phil Spencer talked about this big problem. Here’s exactly what he said:
There’s a list of, what 220 games that are not back compat[ible], and I have that list and I’ve got it stapled on my forehead, and like, how can we make sure you can play them still? How many of those are on PC?
That’s one thing because it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be able to be able to play it on the existing hardware that you bought 15 years ago, but preservation is front and center when all these decisions are made.
Conclusion
Phil’s approach is to find a solution to this problem. It is expected that all of his games will be added to Game Pass in the future. However, it is a move that will require Xbox to invest big to make this happen. Nevertheless, it would not be a crazy move on the part of the American company as Phil Spencer has always been focused on the preservation of games
