Halo has had a year of highs and lows. The highs revolve around the Halo: Master Chief Collection being ported to PC, while the lows focus on the delay of Halo Infinite‘s highly anticipated release. Halo Infinite will now be arriving in late 2021, an extra year’s wait. Still, yet again it looks like a year of highs and lows as it’s now confirmed that Xbox will be sunsetting Halo services on the Xbox 360 platform. With a new generation of consoles comes a goodbye to an older generation.
In a lengthy blog post from 343 Industries, it’s confirmed that Halo on Xbox 360 is going to be sunsetted in December 2021. What that means is that all Halo games on the Xbox 360 are going to have their legacy services, specifically online services, discontinued. The individual games will still be playable, but features including online matchmaking and other online services will be limited or disabled entirely.
Today marks what 343 is calling Phase Two of this process. Phase One involved transferring a variety of Halo Xbox 360 data to the Halo: Master Chief Collection that’s widely available on modern platforms. Phase Two, as should be clear, starts with informing fans of the upcoming discontinuation of Halo Xbox 360 services. Alongside that, however, come two other chances. One, Halo titles on Xbox 360 will no longer be available digitally. Two, Halo DLC on Xbox 360 can still be picked up for free.
Phase 3 will entail continued warnings from 343 Industries, Xbox, and other channels regarding the upcoming sunsetting of Halo on Xbox 360. This will take place throughout 2021. Finally, Phase 4 in December 2021 will see those legacy services officially shut down. A specific date for the shutdown isn’t provided, but it’s confirmed to be at least one year from today, December 18. Finalized details will be shared closer to the date in question.
As justification for the closure, 343 cites its focus on its “ambitious vision” for Halo Infinite, as well as its “continued and evolving” plan to grow the Halo: Master Chief Collection. Those are both clearly ambitious efforts, especially if Halo 5 ends up being brought into the collection in the upcoming year.
It’s nostalgic to consider how many Halo games were released on Xbox 360, especially after an Xbox One generation that had relatively few Halo releases. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo Reach, Halo Wars, and Halo 4 were all available on Xbox 360. And while their online features and services may be a year away from being shut down, Halo fans’ memories are certain to remain rich.
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