Xbox Is Removing A Ridiculous Amount Of Huge Titles
Xbox will remove 46 games from the Xbox 360 marketplace.
As stated in our previous report, all games eventually face oblivion—such is the nature of business, and games are, whether we like it or not, just that. However, this time we’re not discussing yet another game sunset by Electronic Arts or Epic Games. Today, we’re discussing Microsoft’s decision to remove 46 games from the Xbox 360 marketplace on February 7, including some of the major titles, such as 2010’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and 2011’s Dark Souls and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
According to IGN, Xbox shared the complete list of titles to be delisted in the coming days, though it varies slightly by region. The listed games will remain playable for those with physical and previously downloaded copies on the legendary Xbox 360 console. However, said titles present on both Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles via Xbox Game Pass or Microsoft Store won’t be affected by the delisting.
Anyone interested in obtaining some of the titles from Xbox’s list of removal should do so soon, as it will be the last chance to do so digitally.
The legendary Xbox 360 originally launched in 2005, but its digital marketplace and dedicated gaming and hardware modding communities are still pretty active today. And while there aren’t any new games being released for the console or added to its marketplace, Microsoft still maintains the accessibility to the marketplace, allowing gamers to purchase their favorite titles from it. The good news about this is that many of the removed titles have newer, enhanced versions available on newer systems.
For example, Ubisoft continues to remaster old Assassin’s Creed games, and though we made fun of them in the past for recycling old games into Tomb Rider clones, it’s actually nice to have some of these remasters on newer systems. The same applies to numerous other titles being delisted in a couple of days, so the delisting won’t have a massive impact on the majority of gamers looking to experience older AAA titles. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other, less popular titles on the list.
With that said, Microsoft has previously confirmed that no more titles will be made backward compatible going forward, eliminating the playability on newer consoles and accessibility via newer marketplaces. For example, the 2008’s Prince of Persia, Ubisoft’s attempt to establish a separate continuity from The Sands of Time—whose remake is still in development hell—won’t be playable on the Xbox platform anymore. In fact, Xbox has completely removed the game from Xbox Game Pass and PC.
It’s important to note that while these games are being delisted, anyone who owns these titles will still be able to re-download them as much as they like. This alleviates the pressure to keep these titles installed on Xbox’s storage-limited hard drives—at least until the entire Xbox 360 Marketplace succumbs to the teeth of time. And even that isn’t outside the realm of possibilities; the Xbox Support page has announced the closure of Xbox 360 Marketplace in May 2023, but Microsoft later confirmed that the announcement was posted in error and that the Marketplace won’t close in May.
