Microsoft calls time on original Xbox Live service

Microsoft has announced that it will pull the plug on the original Xbox Live service on 15 April …

Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live, acknowledged that the decision to put and end to communities like that of Halo 2 was a “difficult” one to make. “This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community.”

Whitten went on to say “As we look down the road, we’ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox games.”

As of now, it is unclear what benefits users will start to see. It has often been suggested that the current 100 friends limit can be attributed to the infrastructure of the old Xbox Live service, for example, so perhaps this is one area where users will start to benefit. For now, gamers are advised simply to “check your Live messages and associated email account over the coming weeks”.

According to the Xbox Live activity charts as posted by Major Nelson, Halo 2 players will not be the only ones affected by this decision. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Counter-Strike also sustain continually active communities, but with no new iterations of those franchises to be found on Xbox 360 this news may well be a bitter pill to swallow.

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