Microsoft has made a new blog post from its gaming head Phil Spencer announcing that it is ending production runs of the Xbox 360 gaming console. Xbox 360 systems will stay in stores until they are out of stock but the tech giant has no plans to manufacture any new units. The system helped the company compete better with Sony's PlayStation consoles, which made PS4 v. Xbox One a closer battle.
In fact, Xbox 360 helped to shape the next-generation consoles, and included multi-media and online features that have become industry standards today.
Spencer wrote that Xbox 360 has a lot of value to the company, according to VentureBeat. He shared that after manufacturing the console for more than a decade Microsoft is facing "realities" related to that process, according to VentureBeat.
The Xbox boss said that he is extraordinarily proud of the hard work that went into the development of the console's hardware, games, and services during the past decade. He is also thankful to Xbox fans for their support during that time.
Xbox 360 fans will have the same basic gaming experience after Microsoft stops making the console. Spencer promised the company will still provide software updates and Xbox Live support. That is justified by big revenue from monthly/yearly fees for Xbox Live Gold.
In addition, Xbox One provides Xbox 360 backward compatibility. Thus, it is likely Microsoft will continue to support Xbox 360 as long as it continues production runs for Xbox One.
Xbox 360 hit the retail market in November 2005. Spencer reports that since then gamers have completed over 78 billion hours of play on the consoles, according to BBC.
The bottom line is that 2013-launched Xbox One will be the only gaming device manufactured by Microsoft. It is expanding Xbox to Windows 10 in an attempt to close the gap with PlayStation 4.
Game On presenter Adam Rosser explains that Microsoft's move was not a big surprise since the Xbox 360 device is 10 years old. There were many good games released for the console and it had a longer run than the original Xbox system. However, Rosser argues that the 360 version does not have a nostalgic value unlike the old-school Commodore 64 PC.
Here's an Xbox 360 commercial: