End of an era: Xbox 360 store closes down, dooming digital exclusives to obscurity

All good things must come to an end, as they say. The Xbox 360 was emblematic of the seventh generation of consoles for many, leaving a bigger impression on young gamers than either the finicky PS3 or the family-oriented Wii. As of today, however, the classic console is officially dead.

Only a few hours ago at time of writing, Microsoft made good on its vow to shut down the Xbox 360 store, making the purchase and download of new games impossible (through official means, at least). For many, this represents the end of an era, as new gamers exploring the seventh generation and those who have built up 18 years of memories alike are now unable to fill out their collection without looking to the secondhand market.

While any discs you might have will still work, resellers are sure to jack up the prices now that they’re the only way to obtain legitimate copies of the 360’s library. It’s not the 30 million copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 floating around that are the primary cause of concern, though, but the many digital-only gems that never made the leap to the Xbox One’s (and later Xbox Series’) backwards compatibility initiative.

Several Xbox 360 games were never published physically and didn’t make that generational leap, thus officially making their 360 versions lost media. These include the entire lineup of Kinect games—which, granted, it’s hard to see anyone crying for, but still. Perhaps more tearjerking are titles like Life is Strange, Bastion, the Deadliest Warrior duology, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, and the roster of unique oddballs released under the Xbox Live Arcade banner, many of which cannot be played anywhere but the 360.

This leaves the PlayStation 3 as the last seventh-gen store standing. One could argue for it having now won its generation, if only by process of elimination. If anything, this should be taken as a sign that the PS3 isn’t going to stick around forever either, so make sure you grab some of the must-have PSN titles like Tokyo Jungle and Yakuza: Dead Souls before that storefront, too, sees its last sunset.

Looking to the future, Microsoft seems to be going all-in on digital releases with how heavily it’s been pushing its Game Pass service. Whether or not that means Xbox One or Xbox Series stores will be exempt from the same fate down the line is anyone’s guess, but if we’re going to live in a digital dystopia where physical media is extinct, I’d rather be able to access the games I want. Better start downloading.