The cost of many physical games for the Xbox 360 has risen dramatically in recent months owing to the upcoming closure of the console's digital marketplace. This has prompted many fans to buy their favorite Xbox 360 games digitally.

On July 29, Microsoft is officially closing down the Xbox 360 digital storefront, meaning that it will no longer be possible to buy games for the console for download, leaving physical discs as the only legal way to play them. As a result, the prices for many of these physical games, including a slew of classic titles like Fallout 3 and Fable Anniversary, have gone up dramatically as demand for them is gearing up to skyrocket indefinitely.

According to resarch done by TheGamer, the overall price of many of the Xbox 360's most popular titles increased by over 14 percent across 30 titles, with over 85% of the games researched seeing a price hike. While TheGamer's research only spanned about 30 games, it paints a fairly strong picture of what may be coming for the physical game market on the 360 as Microsoft prepares to cut support for the console.

On the other side of things, the PS3, which still has an active digital storefront that Sony has yet to announce any plans to shut down, price increases have been much less significant, at only around 4 percent. Nintendo's online stores for the Wii and Wii U have similarly shut down in recent years, leaving the PS3's PlayStation Store as the sole survivor of digital game markets from that generation of consoles.

As per the data, the games with the most significant price hikes are Vampire Rain, Viva Pinata, and Lollipop Chainsaw, while some have actually seen decreases in price, such as Saint's Row 2 and Soulcalibur 4, though these have proven to be outliers. While Lollipop Chainsaw is set to receive a current-gen remaster, many of the others will end up lost to time for those who don't already own them or are willing to shell out for the physical discs.

Fortunately for fans still holding on to the console, Microsoft rolled out one last massive sale for the Xbox 360 before the store closes down indefinitely, so there is still some time to pick up a few digital games. Since the Xbox One and Series X/S are also backwards compatible with many games from the 360, it might be worth picking up a few classic games even for those without the original hardware.

Posted: Jul 23, 2024 1:25 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/xbox-360-games-prices-increase-why/