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A former Xbox exec has paid tribute to the Xbox 360 marketplace on its final day, saying that “all good things must come to an end.”
Today, July 29, will mark the end of the Xbox 360 store after almost 19 years of service. Later today, you’ll no longer be able to make fresh purchases directly on your 360 or the Marketplace website, meaning any nostalgic players hoping to add to their classic console’s library are almost out of luck. While it’ll still be possible to redownload games you’ve already bought, play online on the console (as long as the individual games’ servers are still supported), and download backwards-compatible 360 games on an Xbox One or Series X|S, it’s still very much the end of an era, as Xbox veteran Larry Hryb acknowledges.
Hryb started working with Xbox in 2003 as a senior project manager who helped shape the Xbox Live community. He then became the senior director of corporate communications in 2012, a role he remained in until September last year. Needless to say, he’s been part of Xbox for a massive part of the brand’s life and shared “thousands” of marketplace updates with fans.
“Almost 19 years on, all good things must come to an end. We are in the final 24 hours (or so) of the Xbox 360 Marketplace,” Hryb wrote on Twitter around 12 hours ago. “It was my pleasure sharing all the thousands of marketplace sales and updates I’ve given over the years. Thank [you] for having fun, playing fair, and filing feedback.”
It’s not clear exactly what time the store and Marketplace are going down for good, but time is definitely ticking. If you want to visit them one last time or make any last-minute purchases, you should probably get on with that sooner rather than later, but remember that backwards-compatible games will still be available to buy via the newer Xbox consoles, so don’t be pressured into panic buying.
Be sure to check out our roundup of the 25 best Xbox 360 games of all time to see our top picks.