Summary
Last summer,Xboxconfirmed that in July 2024,the Xbox 360 marketplace will be shutting down. That means if there are games you don’t already own on the console that you’d like to play in the future, without having to hunt down a potentially expensive physical copy, then you’ve got two more months to add them to your library. If you didn’t dive in right away when the shutdown announcement was made, you’ve been rewarded for your patience as Xbox has started to slash the prices of titles on the marketplace, some of them reduced by as much as 90 percent.
More than 60 games have already had their prices cut, and Xbox has revealed when more titles will be added to that haul. Another batch of price cuts will go live on June 16, and then a final round a month after that on July 16. That last round of price cuts will likely be the most extreme as it will happen less than two weeks before the 360 marketplace is shut down for good on July 29. That said, now is not the time to roll the dice. If there’s a 360 game available for less, buy it now before it’s too late.
There are already some big names among the games to have had their prices cut. Tomb Raider,Far Cry 4,Alone in the Dark, anda lot of installments in the Just Dance serieshave had their prices slashed ahead of the marketplace shutdown. If you buy these games now, or you own them already, they will all remain playable on your 360 after the shutdown on July 29. Even online capabilities, including online multiplayer, will remain active for games that still have those functionalities provided the individual developers continue to support those services post-marketplace closure.
Tomb Raider
WHERE TO PLAY
More than a decade ago, the Tomb Raider series got its official reboot, rebuilding the series on the same foundations as the original trilogy. This was the first game in the rebooted series, and it’s available for a heavily discounted price on Xbox 360.
The only potential pitfall depends on what platform you plan to play these reduced games on. Despite Xbox putting more effort into making as many of its games backwards compatible than its rivals, less than a third of 360 games work onXbox OneandSeries X|S. 633 of the 2,154 games released on 360 to be exact, which means most of the games on sale can only be played on a 360. Xbox confirmed in 2021 thatthere are no plans to make more of those games backwards compatible.
Thief
If stealth games are your thing, you won’t find many better, are more immersed in that genre, than Thief. As the name of the game implies, the entire premise is controlling Garrett as he attempts to sneakily steal from the rich in Thief’s steampunk-inspired world.
Again, if you have a 360, this isn’t a problem. The games on sale will continue to work on 360 consoles beyond the marketplace shutdown. This is just your latest warning that once the ability to buy these games digitally is gone on July 29, they’re gone for good. Any gaps in your 360 library you’ve pushed to the back of your mind for years, this is the time to fill them before it’s too late. If you’re not interested in playing your 360 anymore and you have physical copies of the console’s games, the silver lining of the marketplace closing down, for you at least, is those games will likely become far more valuable beyond the end of July.
