Xbox boss would ‘love to find solutions’ so games aren’t lost when the 360 store closes

videogameschronicle.com:

Microsoft’s head of gaming has said he’d like to find ways to ensure that hundreds of Xbox 360 titles aren’t lost when the console’s digital store closes next year.

Although users will still be able to redownload their previous purchases for the foreseeable future, Microsoft recently announced that after July 29, 2024, it will no longer be possible to buy any more games or DLC from the Xbox 360 Marketplace.

While many of these games will still be playable via other means, around 220 of them will essentially disappear forever, recent VGC analysis showed.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has since addressed this in an interview with Eurogamer, in which he said he’d “love to find solutions” allowing those games to remain available.

“There’s a list of, what 220 games that are not back compat, and I have that list and I’ve got it stapled on my forehead, and like, how can we make sure [you can play them still?],” he said.

“How many of those are on PC? That’s one thing, because it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be able to play it on the existing hardware that you bought 15 years ago, but preservation is front and centre when all these decisions are made,” Spencer claimed.

“I will say for us that preservation that’s linked to only one piece of hardware is a challenge. Because there can be hardware love as well – people who love and want this device to do this forever – but mechanical things will break over time.

“But that’s why we gave people with this decision a year. Let’s say ‘hey, if you want to go buy things in the 360 store, we’re going to give you a year headstart, and you can go get those things’. And just know that the list of the 220 games is something that we see, and we would love to find solutions for those games to continue