Xbox 360 Halo game services to end by December 2021
Microsoft and 343 Industries are shutting down Halo Xbox 360 services. Both have already shut down digital sales of all Halo games, Engadget reports.
The developers of Halo in an article pointed out that monthly usage of legacy Xbox 360 game services has continued to decline. This created a “greater imbalance” between the time and work required to “maintain versus the net impact on the entire Halo community,” the post said.
As with any business, our teams must constantly weigh needs against available resources (time, staff, expertise, etc.) and prioritize areas and opportunities that produce the most impact. As these games age and as modern improved replacements for many of these experiences have come to the fore, fewer and fewer people are investing time in the original titles, he added. .
The developers also said digital sales have already slowed, as physical sales of these Xbox 360 titles were suspended in 2018.
Online services for older Halo Xbox 360 titles will be discontinued by December 2021. Owners of these titles will continue to have access to the game, but some features such as online matchmaking will cease to function.
The developers have also developed a step-by-step plan to help users with the transition. For now, they will be sending initial notifications to players. As previously reported, digital sales of Halo Xbox 360 have already been halted. Users, however, can acquire the Halo Xbox 360 DLC for free.
In the next phase, the developers will send out messages and reminders throughout the year. In the final phase, the company will completely deactivate its old Halo Xbox 360 services.
As stated above, this is just the beginning – and we will continue to message and remind our community of the end of next year in the months to come. At this time, no action is required other than to take note of it. We would also like to point out that as these services continue to age and back-end work occurs, players may experience intermittent disruption. If we anticipate any work items will cause specific downtime along the way, we’ll be sure to get the message across, the post added.
