It's almost 19 years since Xbox 360 launched. Depending on your perspective, you might consider it a retro console. I had a lot of hair back then. The console's online store, which launched two years after Steam, allowed users to purchase and download full games. This store has been retired.
Microsoft announced in 2013 that the Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace would no longer be available for the purchase of new games, DLC and other entertainment content after July 29, 2024.
The shutdown only affects Xbox 360 games and DLC. Games that are already owned will continue to work, and there are also many backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games available to buy on newer Xboxes, so it's not a total wipeout of a generation of digitally-distributed console games. (Many Xbox 360 titles also ended up on PC.
While the closure is not directly relevant for PC gamers, it has re-ignited long-standing concerns about DRM, digital distribution and game preservation. The Video Game History Foundation wrote that the Xbox 360 Marketplace has closed permanently, removing hundreds of games and DLC from the market. There is no legal way to get them. (They also baked a cake.
Closures of game stores and services, like Stadia, always make me think about the real doomsday: What would happen if Steam disappeared? How many games will be unavailable forever? Steam is still relevant today, unlike the old Xbox 360 store. It keeps Gabe Newell’s yachts running.
Midnight Society, a blockchain FPS developer who recently kicked Dr Disrespect out of the game, believes that true digital ownership is the solution. The company stated on X that peer to peer game marketplaces "replace classic storefronts," but that's more a prediction than a fact, since no such marketplace (such as RobotCache) comes close to replacing Steam. To make a difference, the store would have to offer Steam-like digital rights management within a decentralized and robust framework. I'm unaware of anything like that.
GOG's DRM-free sales are the simple solution. DRM-free game can be archived and, if they become unavailable through stores, distributed to hobbyists and archives.
There are only a few publishers who will release their games without DRM. It also doesn't solve another major game preservation problem: live service games which can't be used after the official servers have shut down. A recent letter-writing drive has pushed legislation that would require game publishers to make games playable, whether or not they actively support them. This is what the makers of Knockout city have done by providing tools for player-run server.
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