Microsoft is removing dozens of Xbox 360 games from the Xbox Store

Microsoft is removing nearly 50 Xbox 360 games from the Xbox 360 Store on February 7, 2023, though backwards compatibility means they’re not all gone forever. Xbox made the announcement in a short support post with a summary of the delisted games for each region.

In the US, Microsoft is withdrawing Assassin’s Creed 3, Assassin’s Creed 4, Dark Souls, Mass Effect 2, and Blue Dragonnext to The Witcher 2, Prince of Persia, Knights of the Old Republic 2and Lost Odyssey. If you purchase them from the Xbox 360 Store before the February date, you can still download the games even after they’ve been delisted.

Physical copies of the games will continue to work on any Xbox console that supports 360 discs. If the game has a backward compatible or enhanced version available in the Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S stores, they will remain available for purchase after February 7, 2023.

Microsoft hasn’t given a reason why these games will no longer be available, and hasn’t yet said if the ultimate plan is to shut down the Xbox 360 Store entirely. However, the Xbox 360 is only two years away from its 20th birthday. Most platform owners shut down their old servers and stores after launching a new console, so the fact that the 360 ​​store is still open at all comes as a surprise.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF