Analysis by VGC suggests that, when the Xbox 360 Store closes next year, 220 digital-only games will be unavailable to purchase and could potentially disappear.
As the Xbox 360 era recedes ever further into history, it’s perhaps understandable that Microsoft would begin to divert its resources away from ageing services like the Xbox 360 Store and Xbox Live Arcade. But with the Xbox 360 Store scheduled to close down in July 2024, there are dozens of titles that will soon become unavailable to purchase.
According to VGC’s analysis, there are roughly 220 games on the Xbox 360 Store that are unavailable physically. This means that, unless you’ve already purchased these titles before the store closes on 29 July next year, they’re gone – and unless the developers who made them have archived their work carefully, they could be at risk of vanishing altogether.
Among the games on VGC’s endangered list, you’ll find modernised updates of old arcade hits, such Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot, Bubble Bobble Neo and Choplifter HD. Then there are spin-offs from bigger franchises that are becoming increasingly obscure with each passing year, such as arcade racer Burnout Crash! and Bionic Commando: Rearmed (the latter actually ended up being a better game than its big-budget reboot, Bionic Commando, which came and went in 2009).
And while it’s true that many games on the list are available on other digital storefronts, it’s a reminder of how precarious our increasingly non-physical games scene can be. As writer Chris Scullion points out, “game preservation isn’t a selective process, and… every version of a game is of equal importance in that game’s history.”
Read more: Almost 90 percent of old video games are unavailable and endangered, a new survey indicates
It’s also a wonder what Microsoft will do with such games as Crimson Dragon, Boxing Fight and Darts vs Zombies – all games that rely on the company’s Kinect peripheral. After untold millions was spent on R&D, and Microsoft redoubled its attempts to make fetch happen by including a Kinect with the Xbox One at launch in 2013, the motion controller was discontinued in 2017.
Again, as Xbox 360s and Xbox Ones and their Kinects break down, games compatible with the controller will only become more difficult to access and enjoy.
You can find the full list of 220 at-risk titles over in VGC’s original article.
