It’s been almost 18 years since the Xbox 360 launched, which, depending on your perspective, can make it a retro console or make you a retro person—I, for one, had a lot more hair back then. One of the most notable features of the console, which was released a few years after Steam, was an online games store where you could buy and download full games. That store is finally retiring.
“On July 29, 2024, Xbox will no longer support the ability to purchase new games, downloadable content, and other entertainment from the Xbox 360 Store on your console and from Xbox 360 Marketplace,” Microsoft said. announced last year and the day has come.
The closure only affects your ability to purchase games and DLC for Xbox 360. Games you already own will continue to work, and many backward-compatible Xbox 360 games are available for purchase on newer Xbox consoles, so this isn’t a complete wipeout of generations of digitally distributed console games. (Many Xbox 360 games have also made their way to PC.)
The shutdown, while obviously not directly affecting PC gamers, has raised long-standing concerns about DRM, digital distribution, and game preservation. “Today, the Xbox 360 Marketplace is closing for good, removing hundreds of games and DLC from the marketplace with no legal way to access them.” written by the Video Game History Foundationa nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving games and their source material. (They also made a cake.)
The closure of gaming stores and services—like Stadia—always makes me think of a true doomsday scenario: What if Steam disappeared? How many games would be permanently unavailable? It’s almost unimaginable—unlike the ailing Xbox 360 store, Steam is still incredibly relevant today and keeps Gabe Newell’s yachts sailing—but it could theoretically happen.
Today, the Xbox 360 Marketplace is closing for good, removing hundreds of games and DLC from the marketplace with no legal way to access them. We’re working on a copyright fix to preserve the games, but for now, we figured a little cake wouldn’t hurt. 🎂 pic.twitter.com/nxXIbJ8kkQJuly 29, 2024
One proposed way to address this fear is through marketplaces that employ blockchain technology to enable the resale of digital games, a solution proposed by Midnight Society, a blockchain-based FPS developer that recently fired Dr Disrespect. the company announced in X that peer-to-peer gaming markets are “replacing traditional storefronts”, although this is more of a prediction than a statement of fact: there is no such game market (for example, Robot Cache) is on the verge of replacing Steam. And to make a difference, such a marketplace would have to offer Steam-like DRM in a completely decentralized and stalwart environment, and I don’t know of anything like that.
The basic solution is to sell DRM-free games, as GOG does. DRM-free games can be archived by users, and if they ever become unavailable in stores, distributed by hobbyists and archivists — though not necessarily legally, until the copyright expires or is abandoned.
Only a few publishers are willing to release their games DRM-free, and that doesn’t facilitate solve another major gaming preservation problem: live-service games that can’t be played once official servers are shut down. In this context, a recent letter-writing campaign pushed for legislation that would require game publishers to make their games playable, regardless of whether they continue to actively support them, as the creators of Knockout City did by providing tools for player-managed servers.
