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It's been a year since Xbox marketplace went down.
3 months ago
I’ve decided to write about this as it's been a year since the Xbox Marketplace ended.
For those who are unaware, on July 29th, 2024, Microsoft shut down the Xbox 360 Marketplace. This means that, unless it's free from the get-go, you’ll not be able to purchase any DLC on any Xbox 360 game, the Xbox Live Marketplace Games listed on the 360, nor any themes or Avatar props based on the Games. If you’ve already purchased them, you can still download and play them as normal. But if you haven’t, well, I’m sorry.
I spent a lot of my money trying to save as many of these games and DLCs as possible. However, I wasn’t able to save them all.
Quite a few of them were worth it, such as Dust: An Elysian Tale, which isn’t available on Xbox One, though it's available on other consoles if you’re interested. However, other games were merely novelty games at best, such as Dustforce, a puzzle platformer about cleaning up places, and Ion, a fancier version of Asteroids that has some neat ideas but not much else to say. Other games were not worth it, such as Takedown: Red Sabre, which is supposed to be a tactical shooter but is simply unplayable due to its broken nature. Additionally, Hunter’s Trophy 2 America and Australia are essentially recycled versions of Hunter’s Trophy Europia. I mean it. They’re literally so superficially similar to each other, it's unbelievable.
However, certain games and their DLCs are still available for purchase on Microsoft Xbox One, as they are backwards compatible. For example, Red Faction Armageddon is backwards compatible, and therefore, its DLC can still be purchased in the Store on Xbox One. This means that if you purchase it on the Xbox One, you can then download it onto your 360, as technically, you’ve purchased it.
Other games could still be played through a workaround, for example, Doom 1 and 2 on the Xbox Live Marketplace were delisted long ago, BUT if you get a copy of Doom 3 BFG edition, you can still play these games as they’re installed into the disk, just get used to the fact that the medic powerups hold a pill symbol, rather than the medic cross, due to some legal issue at the time. Certain Xbox Live Marketplace games, such as the Alien Breed Trilogy, Beyond Good & Evil in HD, and Trials HD, were made available in physical copies, at least in the PAL Region. You can find them on eBay and similar sites, but expect Alien Breed to cost a bundle. Some games had “special edition” versions, such as for Dead Island, a four-player Zombie game. You can still play the DLC, IF you get the “Game of the Year” Edition.
Not all games retained this feature even after the Marketplace was shut down. This was the case for SEGA. They did have some of their retro classics on the Xbox Marketplace, and while some were backwards compatible, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, others, like Streets of Rage 2 and Ecco the Dolphin, were not. After the shutdown, they decided to delist the Sonic the Hedgehog games and some of their other classics, such as Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Nights into Dreams, for unknown reasons. To be fair, some of these games are included in various compilation games, such as SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the Xbox 360 and SEGA Mega Drive Classics, which was originally downloadable but is now delisted; however, a physical copy is still available. These two deserve an article on their own, but I digress. Other games included Defence Grid Awakening and Blood of the Werewolf.
Other games impacted by this were the Battlefield games Three, Four and Hardline on the Xbox 360. When the marketplace was shut down, it was decided to disable the multiplayer on these games. Both Battlefield Four and Hardline have Xbox One versions, but not Battlefield Three. The reason they did this was that their idea was for gamers to buy servers for the multiplayer, which was designed to have gamers purchase these servers for a week, a month, or three months. However, because the Marketplace was shut down, they decided to disable multiplayer as a result. I remember playing these games to get the achievements before the inevitable.
Following this, many of the games that were on the Marketplace have been remade with modifications. Look no further than Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, The Great Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, the Dead Island series and Deadlight, which were previously available on the Xbox Marketplace before the shutdown, have been remastered and released on the Microsoft Store. Others, such as Valiant Hearts, a puzzle game based on World War I, have been remade as part of a bundle that includes the game's sequel. But others have been somewhat pointlessly remade in my opinion. Alan Wake’s first episode is an example. It has been remade for the Xbox One, but the game is backwards compatible and its DLCs are still purchasable, as of July 29th 2025, through the Marketplace. Therefore, if you were to purchase them there, you can redownload them onto the Xbox 360. Another example is Bioshock, which is also completely backwards compatible, including the DLC; yet, they’ve rereleased the game along with its sequel. On the other hand, looking at the Halo franchise in general, I suspect you could theoretically get the DLC Multiplayer maps in Halo 3, Reach and 4 as they were made free, but because the multiplayer was shut down prior to the marketplace, it might be better off trying the MCC. Halo Wars on the 360, on the other hand, is backwards compatible, but they’ve delisted the multiplayer DLC on the store. I’ve already played it, but it's not available in the HD Remake, and it's clear they’ve made some modifications to the gameplay, particularly in the Arcadia evacuation mission, making it harder. Other DLCs that have been delisted are Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. Which haven’t been remade. Again, I’ve got the DLCs, so it hasn’t impacted me, but if you haven’t, I’m sorry.
Dead Space is an unusual example because you can still purchase the Original trilogy and its DLCs, as well as its spinoff, which were originally available on the Xbox Live Marketplace; they remain available in the store thanks to backwards compatibility. But I consider the Dead Space remake to be its own game in a way, as it rewrites the first game’s story, and I can only note these observations. The Mass Effect Trilogy is also an example, but unlike the original, it excludes the Pinnacle Station DLC on Mass Effect One due to certain restrictions. Mind you, it's not a big loss as the Pinnacle Station DLC wasn’t really that good, so you’re not missing much.
The most significant loss, at least to me, is the Achievements that were placed within these games. With the Marketplace gone, you’ll not be able to get all the achievements for multiple games due to their DLCS being no longer available to purchase. As mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of my money trying to save as many of the DLCs and games as possible, but deep down, I know I couldn’t save them all, in part because I had limited memory, but soon my card wouldn’t buy them anymore, so I resorted to Gift cards. I know many of the games in question were either backwards compatible, had Xbox One editions or have been remade, but still.
The most significant thing that's been happening over the months is that many publishers and developers are dropping their multiplayer and potentially even the single-player, once the publisher of the game decides to drop its support, presumably because the gamers have moved on. One example is Multiversus, a Super Smash Bros game that featured multiple characters from Samurai Jack to Bugs Bunny, DC heroes and villains such as Aquaman, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as the Joker, Black Adam and Harley Quinn, to Shaggy Doo and obscure characters such as The Iron Giant. Once they shut down the multiplayer they delisted any unlocked costumes and such, making whatever was achieved in multiplayer outside the achievement system on the Xbox One meaningless, IMO. Other games such as Divine Knockout, another free game like Super Smash Bros, was rendered completely gone when the publisher pulled out and shut the servers down, meaning you only had the achievements for the game to show for it. There have been multiple delistings over the years, and even now, games that were free to play, such as Armoured Warfare, a World of Tanks clone, and Splitgate, a free FPS mixed with elements of Portal, are going to shut down their servers, and that might mean you can’t play them for Single-Player or even just you vs AI players, even if you wanted to.
Consequently, there has been a pushback from gamers demanding to put an end to this business model. Its called The Stop Killing Games Movement.
I like to hear your thoughts about this.
For those who are unaware, on July 29th, 2024, Microsoft shut down the Xbox 360 Marketplace. This means that, unless it's free from the get-go, you’ll not be able to purchase any DLC on any Xbox 360 game, the Xbox Live Marketplace Games listed on the 360, nor any themes or Avatar props based on the Games. If you’ve already purchased them, you can still download and play them as normal. But if you haven’t, well, I’m sorry.
I spent a lot of my money trying to save as many of these games and DLCs as possible. However, I wasn’t able to save them all.
Quite a few of them were worth it, such as Dust: An Elysian Tale, which isn’t available on Xbox One, though it's available on other consoles if you’re interested. However, other games were merely novelty games at best, such as Dustforce, a puzzle platformer about cleaning up places, and Ion, a fancier version of Asteroids that has some neat ideas but not much else to say. Other games were not worth it, such as Takedown: Red Sabre, which is supposed to be a tactical shooter but is simply unplayable due to its broken nature. Additionally, Hunter’s Trophy 2 America and Australia are essentially recycled versions of Hunter’s Trophy Europia. I mean it. They’re literally so superficially similar to each other, it's unbelievable.
However, certain games and their DLCs are still available for purchase on Microsoft Xbox One, as they are backwards compatible. For example, Red Faction Armageddon is backwards compatible, and therefore, its DLC can still be purchased in the Store on Xbox One. This means that if you purchase it on the Xbox One, you can then download it onto your 360, as technically, you’ve purchased it.
Other games could still be played through a workaround, for example, Doom 1 and 2 on the Xbox Live Marketplace were delisted long ago, BUT if you get a copy of Doom 3 BFG edition, you can still play these games as they’re installed into the disk, just get used to the fact that the medic powerups hold a pill symbol, rather than the medic cross, due to some legal issue at the time. Certain Xbox Live Marketplace games, such as the Alien Breed Trilogy, Beyond Good & Evil in HD, and Trials HD, were made available in physical copies, at least in the PAL Region. You can find them on eBay and similar sites, but expect Alien Breed to cost a bundle. Some games had “special edition” versions, such as for Dead Island, a four-player Zombie game. You can still play the DLC, IF you get the “Game of the Year” Edition.
Not all games retained this feature even after the Marketplace was shut down. This was the case for SEGA. They did have some of their retro classics on the Xbox Marketplace, and while some were backwards compatible, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, others, like Streets of Rage 2 and Ecco the Dolphin, were not. After the shutdown, they decided to delist the Sonic the Hedgehog games and some of their other classics, such as Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Nights into Dreams, for unknown reasons. To be fair, some of these games are included in various compilation games, such as SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the Xbox 360 and SEGA Mega Drive Classics, which was originally downloadable but is now delisted; however, a physical copy is still available. These two deserve an article on their own, but I digress. Other games included Defence Grid Awakening and Blood of the Werewolf.
Other games impacted by this were the Battlefield games Three, Four and Hardline on the Xbox 360. When the marketplace was shut down, it was decided to disable the multiplayer on these games. Both Battlefield Four and Hardline have Xbox One versions, but not Battlefield Three. The reason they did this was that their idea was for gamers to buy servers for the multiplayer, which was designed to have gamers purchase these servers for a week, a month, or three months. However, because the Marketplace was shut down, they decided to disable multiplayer as a result. I remember playing these games to get the achievements before the inevitable.
Following this, many of the games that were on the Marketplace have been remade with modifications. Look no further than Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, The Great Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, the Dead Island series and Deadlight, which were previously available on the Xbox Marketplace before the shutdown, have been remastered and released on the Microsoft Store. Others, such as Valiant Hearts, a puzzle game based on World War I, have been remade as part of a bundle that includes the game's sequel. But others have been somewhat pointlessly remade in my opinion. Alan Wake’s first episode is an example. It has been remade for the Xbox One, but the game is backwards compatible and its DLCs are still purchasable, as of July 29th 2025, through the Marketplace. Therefore, if you were to purchase them there, you can redownload them onto the Xbox 360. Another example is Bioshock, which is also completely backwards compatible, including the DLC; yet, they’ve rereleased the game along with its sequel. On the other hand, looking at the Halo franchise in general, I suspect you could theoretically get the DLC Multiplayer maps in Halo 3, Reach and 4 as they were made free, but because the multiplayer was shut down prior to the marketplace, it might be better off trying the MCC. Halo Wars on the 360, on the other hand, is backwards compatible, but they’ve delisted the multiplayer DLC on the store. I’ve already played it, but it's not available in the HD Remake, and it's clear they’ve made some modifications to the gameplay, particularly in the Arcadia evacuation mission, making it harder. Other DLCs that have been delisted are Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. Which haven’t been remade. Again, I’ve got the DLCs, so it hasn’t impacted me, but if you haven’t, I’m sorry.
Dead Space is an unusual example because you can still purchase the Original trilogy and its DLCs, as well as its spinoff, which were originally available on the Xbox Live Marketplace; they remain available in the store thanks to backwards compatibility. But I consider the Dead Space remake to be its own game in a way, as it rewrites the first game’s story, and I can only note these observations. The Mass Effect Trilogy is also an example, but unlike the original, it excludes the Pinnacle Station DLC on Mass Effect One due to certain restrictions. Mind you, it's not a big loss as the Pinnacle Station DLC wasn’t really that good, so you’re not missing much.
The most significant loss, at least to me, is the Achievements that were placed within these games. With the Marketplace gone, you’ll not be able to get all the achievements for multiple games due to their DLCS being no longer available to purchase. As mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of my money trying to save as many of the DLCs and games as possible, but deep down, I know I couldn’t save them all, in part because I had limited memory, but soon my card wouldn’t buy them anymore, so I resorted to Gift cards. I know many of the games in question were either backwards compatible, had Xbox One editions or have been remade, but still.
The most significant thing that's been happening over the months is that many publishers and developers are dropping their multiplayer and potentially even the single-player, once the publisher of the game decides to drop its support, presumably because the gamers have moved on. One example is Multiversus, a Super Smash Bros game that featured multiple characters from Samurai Jack to Bugs Bunny, DC heroes and villains such as Aquaman, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as the Joker, Black Adam and Harley Quinn, to Shaggy Doo and obscure characters such as The Iron Giant. Once they shut down the multiplayer they delisted any unlocked costumes and such, making whatever was achieved in multiplayer outside the achievement system on the Xbox One meaningless, IMO. Other games such as Divine Knockout, another free game like Super Smash Bros, was rendered completely gone when the publisher pulled out and shut the servers down, meaning you only had the achievements for the game to show for it. There have been multiple delistings over the years, and even now, games that were free to play, such as Armoured Warfare, a World of Tanks clone, and Splitgate, a free FPS mixed with elements of Portal, are going to shut down their servers, and that might mean you can’t play them for Single-Player or even just you vs AI players, even if you wanted to.
Consequently, there has been a pushback from gamers demanding to put an end to this business model. Its called The Stop Killing Games Movement.
I like to hear your thoughts about this.
