Xbox 360 consoles are seeing more of their sun set with every passing day. And for this one, players of the original "Halo" series of games are going to feel the brunt.
Starting January, the original Xbox 360 versions of specific "Halo" games will be losing online services, writes The Verge.
So, for those who have been holding on to their "Halo" multiplayer sessions on the 360, you'll have to scrounge up a last-gen or current-gen system to keep playing online.
The games which will be affected by the change are as follows: "Halo: Reach" "Halo 3," "Halo 3: ODST," "Halo 4," "Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary," "Spartan Assault," and lastly, "Halo Wars."
But while the online functions for these games will be disabled on the Xbox 360, you'll still be able to play them offline.
343 Industries themselves made the official announcement in a blog post on the website HaloWaypoint.
There, the team made it clear that they're "looking forward" to the future of the "Halo" franchise by focusing on modern generation titles, such as the upcoming "Halo Infinite."
"Halo: The Master Chief Collection," however, is also nearing the end of its current life cycle. That's because 343 also announced that the game's eight multiplayer season will be its last, reports The Verge.
While they're not completely cutting off support for it just like what they're doing with the Xbox 360, 343 Industries is saying that sending off "Master Chief Collection" is intended to help them focus on the imminent launch of "Infinite."
A Send-Off Long in the Works
As per the original announcement blog, the end of online services for Xbox 360 "Halo" games have been a long time coming.
343 started their efforts back in 2019, where their so-called "Phase One" involved one-time migration of every single bit of Legacy UGC data from the Xbox 360 version of "Halo" into the "Master Chief Collection."
Phase Two happened in 2020 and involved the removal of all "Halo" titles on the Xbox 360 online store, though 343 did make sure that all DLCs will still be playable. They also gave out the notification to players.
2021 is Phase Three, wherein the developers focused on keeping players abreast with updates, and the final end for all Xbox 360 online support for the "Halo" franchise will be Phase Four.
What Are the Alternatives for Xbox 360 Owners?
If you still want to keep reliving the glory days of your Xbox 360 "Halo" multiplayer sessions, you still have Game Pass as an option. Most of the original 360 games are on Game Pass right now, all for a monthly fee.
You can have the service on a last-gen Xbox One console and play your classic 360 games there. Furthermore, the Xbox One is going almost dirt cheap these days on second-hand markets, and it's still a pretty capable console in its own right.
And if you get lucky, even the newest Series X and Series S consoles will be able to play your classic Xbox 360 "Halo" games.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
