End of Xbox 360 as Microsoft to End production
The console has been on sale for a little more than 10 years.
Its a day that Xbox fans knew was coming: Xbox 360s will stop rolling off the production line after a little more than 10 years on sale, Microsoft announced today. Existing inventory will be sold until its depleted.
Microsoft plans to support current Xbox 360 owners, who will continue to be able to access Xbox Live, play Xbox 360 games, and receive support for their console hardware via the Xbox support site.
"The Xbox 360 helped redefine an entire generation of gaming at Microsoft," Xbox head Phil Spencer wrote in a blog post. "I am incredibly proud of all of the work and dedication that went into development of the Xbox 360 hardware, services and games portfolio over the last decade. And Im grateful to the fans for their continued passion and support."
According to Spencer, Xbox 360 has hosted 78 billion gaming hours, with players racking up nearly 486 billion Gamerscore on 27 billion achievements. Additionally, more than 25 billion hours have been spent in Xbox apps, which include streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu.
Ending Xbox 360 production wont have much of an impact on the consoles more than 4,000 game titles. Theyll continue to be sold at retail, Spencer said, and of course Xbox One owners can also play them with the backward-compatibility program.
Xbox 360 turned 10 years old on Nov. 22, when its former chief product officer Marc Whitten recalled its humble origins, including a protocol for wireless controllers that was developed before Bluetooth and used an old cordless phone standard. Xbox 360s innovations�though not its long production run�draw a comparison to the Sega Dreamcast, another console that many consider to be ahead of its time. Sega ended Dreamcast production after less than three years.