Halo games’ Xbox 360 servers will be shut down in 2021 – TheSixthAxis With tons of companies seeming shutting off the servers to their games, this is probably the biggest blow since the discontinuing of Xbox Live on OG Xbox in 2010. I respect them for keeping them alive for so long.
I wont lie, im more surprised to hear it was still running until now! Didnt the 360 come out like 15 years ago?
To all things there is a time, but its, very....heartening to know they kept the lights on for the 360 version of the games for so long.
Man, 3, Reach and ODST I played religiously for a long time. While it's pretty awesome to know they kept the servers alive for THIS long, it's still sad to see them go. Lots of fond memories, and honestly I think I'd still be playing these games if my 360 didn't have a stroke due to old age.
Not very impressed as if people don't complain about the games that do have other versions - then they will think they can do it all the time to those games that don't have other versions too - which Sony already has a bad habit of doing. If no one had used them for months I'd understand - but it's Microsoft they are basicially screwing over peoples Waypoint accounts to some extent too by doing this - and what if you happen to prefer the older ones - you are kinda stuck then aren't you. It's not like the remakes are perfect - they are kinda a little bit broken in spots due to things that were a little bit broken in the PC code they are based on too. I sometimes wonder if they purposefully preclude some XBox 360 games from Backwards compatibility so they have an excuse to kill the multi-player that really "is not cool". I would be pretty peeved if they did that with a Gears of War game like GOW2 as I never stopped playing that game's multiplayer since it came out - as I disliked Gears of War 3's so much I just stuck with what I liked.
They can’t keep the lights on indefinitely, that they kept them on as long as they did is a remarkable effort considering the 360 has now been superseded twice.
This will be the way of all modern gaming eventually. Third party servers may become a thing in the future, or remakes of the game possibly which are true to the original. Give a popular game enough demand and there will be ways to play. (For the recors i have no idea what Halo games have been already remade)
Totally possible, seeing how Xbox Live from the OG Xbox has 3rd party servers now, and Halo 2 was back online.
I suppose all you would need is the domain and addresses the games are programmed to connect to right?
I kinda disagree - I think they could leave it on for as long as someone no longer uses it at the very least - obviously if no one has used something in a year I'd be a lot more sympathetic - OK Halo isn't going to disapear as such - but what if they decided to turn off games that you don't have other options for - that is at the very least going to push that into the arms of PC crackers I guess - but doesn't that just make people archiving heroes rather than "pirates" then if Microsoft isn't interested in preserving their own History. To widen the point to other games though I do feel very uncomfortable about the idea of older games just disappearing in a puff of smoke - but it in general or in terms of internet gaming. This was a point that some raised about well Anthem for example - that game in a few years (however long) will only exist in memory as it requires server data to work and some of that data isn't accessable to crackers so they wouldn't even be able to reverse engineer it to run on their own server once the original is turned off (like how there is still people playing old Wolfenstein games online modes that way). I just feel as a retro-videogame fan a little sad to see "history" and legacy being thrown in the bin - heck I'm still annoyed about Project Gotham Racing's online mode and DLC disappearing down a black hole and that was donkies years ago.
A bigger point as well is servers crap out and stop working, so is it worth their money to replace it? They are no longer generating revenue from the game or system sales obviously, but they are from Xbox Live subscriptions. Will not replacing the servers cause any of those users to cancel their subscriptions? Probably not a single one.
Well to be honest the best bet is to have a shared farm for all of Xbox Live and a series of back ups and the games that get low traffic get pushed to low speed servers and the high demand one to high speed ones - you shouldn't so much have say a Forza server as an entire eco system of servers. (like a network). Besides as I said I am complaining about people getting less for their money over time as games fall off the list of accessable titles - but here is an example. One of the big websites or large sub streamers or youtuber decides to play an older game before a new one comes out or decides to celebrate the - I don't know 30th anniversary of something that has a slightly more modern version made say 10 years ago - the server demand for that game could go from zero to 10 of thousands overnight. If they are not adaptable to variable need then I think they are addressing their consumers needs poorly by not expecting the unexpected. Another example of this is how some games are starting to be removed from Xbox Game pass already... at least they gave a little notice of what and when - but I stumbled across it entirely by accident it's not like they sent me an e-mail saying play this game in the next period of time or it will be gone forever from the service. It was a total accident I saw it. I might have a list of games I want to play in a particular order if they tell me that game is going to be removed from the service then I'd obviously play it sooner. The other issue with things disappearing and people not being informed is licenses being pulled this has happened to Star Trek and TMNT that I noticed - but it also applies to Forza Games too - instead of Microsoft continuing to pay the licenses or editing new downloads content to say cut out Ferrari or who ever isn't playing nicely with them at the moment - they just flat out remove the game and push the new - providing a darn good example of why discs are something no one should be in a hurry to get rid off. Also speaking of Turtles - lets say you bought one of those old Turtles games and it was on the Backwards compatible list and you wanted to upload it to your new machine - well maybe it might work maybe it might not - but it's not like you can do anything about it either way. Your Digitial license is time limited by how long they support the servers - and if they take the online play away for XBox 360 Titles how long before they take away the ability to re-download a title too ? (personally I am already making plans to change my primary console ID around so I can redown load somethings just to archive them) Sure there is going to be people who poo poo old games but I still like a lot of old games and not all of those old game may have the option of a PC version. For example I play Tetris Splash still all the time (number 2 on the leaderboard last week ) and if they randomly pulled it or removed it's leaderboards I'd be rather annoyed as if my console breaks it's not like I can go in a shop and buy it on disc as it was not ever a disc game (as far as I know). I'm already a bit irked tha I have to keep rebuying Namco or Midway & similar retro content over and over as they don't make it backwards compatible and just keep relisting it. Making me pay a premium to play Ms. Pacman or Dig Dug is a tad annoying. So basically Microsoft please don't go out of your way to agrivate those of us who don't only play the latest "Live Service" Minimum Viable Content tat like The Avengers Game or Anthem. If I wanted my prime Videogame company to be scummy I'd be throwing money at Nintendo or Sony instead -I expect them to be at the very least "Less Scummy" than Nintendo and Sony.. (or certain publishers an platforms on PC) not to much to ask really is it - I cut them a huge amount of slack already for their intrusiveness and how they keep doing stupid stuff like block my account because I decided to buy more than 5 things in the sale on their website. (which if anyone else is having that problem just spread your purchases out and if you get really really stuck open a burner account and send the game to yourself as a gift). Kinda ironic some child can rack up thousands in Microtransactions and yet I get blocked from buying for trying to buy to many Games the same day that are better than 75% off (not like I was buying gift codes to resell either) & ironically most of that were not even games but DLC packs & Things like an old 90's FPS that cost less than 1.50. Maybe they should be blocking those kids from spending Thousands and not me as I bought some ancient Doom Games for the price of a Hamburger. So the short version is "do better" and if you must "do worse" at least have a reason for it when you push Backwards compatability to not undermine your own marketing for it at the same time.
Reminds me of when the servers for Halo 2 were shutting down, but a few people realized that they could still be playing, as long as they kept their console running and active. Exclusive interview: Halo 2's final players share their stories | GamesRadar+
Which Halo Multiplayer Servers Are Shutting Down & Which Remain Online After Jan 13? Today is the last day.