Xbox Live ditching Xbox 1 support

By Tom Bramwell Published 5 February, 2010

Even for 360-compatible stuff and Originals.

Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue Xbox Live support for original Xbox consoles and games on 15th April.

This not only applies to the old consoles, but also to Xbox games that are compatible with Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals.

"I want to start by saying 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," Microsoft's Marc Whitten wrote in an open letter announcing the change.

"Your Xbox Live community has grown to 23 million strong. And 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 v1 games. We will contact the Xbox Live members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your Live messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities."

Xbox Live launched for the original console on 17th November 2002 with support from games like MechAssault, Unreal Championship and MotoGP.

But by far the most popular game on the service was Halo 2, which has held firm at the top of the most-played charts on Major Nelson's website pretty much solidly since its release.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (68) 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DocktorJ #1 2 years ago

    Are people still playing Halo 2? Surely they'll continue support for that at least...

  • InternetRed #2 2 years ago

    That's a shame. I still have my original Xbox, but it's not like having a PS3 and PS2 slim on the same shelf, the original Xbox is a little hefty, and it was nice to play some of my favourites on the 360.

    I can't understand though, why backwards compatibility effects other services on live though?

  • udat #3 2 years ago

    I'd expect a lot more notice for this kind of thing - surely some people who have recently bought Xbox originals games that use Live have a right to be pissed off about this?

    Still, supporting the Xbox 1 implementation of Live was hindering some stuff, like larger friends lists, right?

  • theguyfromspark #4 2 years ago

    Halo 1 + 2 HD Remix for 360 Confirmed!

  • BiffTanner #5 2 years ago

    From the stats on Bungies website there is about 3500 people who play Halo 2 in a day so there is a few but not the huge amount there used to be.
    I guess they saw the numbers playing on the original Xbox and decided it was time the online side of the game was switched off so they can make changes to live that would not be compatible with the old one, at least you can still play xbox 1 games just not online so I'm not too fussed, as long as these improvements to Live are good since they say they have some big things coming.

  • geeza2020 #6 2 years ago

    Cant see as much back-lash over this as the PS2. The PS2 had such a huge user-base it still affected people. I think about 2 people left in the world play the original xbox so i don't think MS are treading on too many toes. Interested to see what the improvements to live will be..

  • peteb #7 2 years ago

    Wait, what? Does this mean that future updates will kill my 360's ability to play my Xbox games? I have SF III:Third Strike, and Jet Set Radio Future. :(

    Or am I completely missing the point?

  • Robm612 #8 2 years ago

    I remember this being said a couple of months back. Microsoft had said that due to the number of people asking for the friends list to increase original xbox support would have to be dropped as halo 2 was the reason the friends list was limited to 100, so this will result in a bigger friends list...though i was just wondering does this mean i wont be able to play xbox games offline, i do like the occansional play through of conkers bad fur day (scouse beetle " this thing came outta the shite!" cant beat it). Suppose though its not the end of the world, too many good games this year, i may have to take up gaming full time....

  • Toothball #9 2 years ago

    Oh I forgot about that. I guess I assumed it'd been dropped ages ago like the original Xbox.

  • Waffleaber #10 2 years ago

    They're only removing the ability to access Live, any games you've got will still work offline.

  • RedSparrows #11 2 years ago

    No more Pandora Tomorrow. Not that anyone ever played it anymore.

    But.... :(((

  • RobotRocker #12 2 years ago

    I dont think there will be any amount of backlash for the PS2 stuff. The PS2 had a lot of games that were only available to play online on the PS2 like Metal Gear Online and most of them only had lifespans of around a year or two (Except for Amplitude which somehow went 5 years before Sony realised the servers were still on. Whoops) before the servers were shut off as most games were fairly expensive to run. XBL gave a lot of games a huge run (Except for the EA stuff, natch) and most have been played out to death. A lot of the popular stuff thats not available on 360 yet will probably be upgraded for XBLA (eg SF3: Third Strike) or already have sequels out on the 360 so I doubt a lot of people will be fussed either.

  • peteb #13 2 years ago

    @ Waffleaber

    Ahh ok, thanks! Not so bad then!

  • Dyason #14 2 years ago

    No more Steel Battalion ):

  • scowat #15 2 years ago

    @ Waffleaber
    heart was in my mouth for second when I read this article as I've just bought a copy of Republic Commando on ebay for old times sake... phew...

    This is also MS trying to push any remaining users over to the 360 I reckon as well

  • Markusdragon #16 2 years ago

    RIP the original Xbox Live framework. You were a faithful old bit of tech, but your time has sadly long passed, and you got a much longer run than the servers run by most of the publishers.

    I guess that means we can have longer friendlists and clans now!

  • Wolverfrog #17 2 years ago

    I still play Halo 2 every once in a while!

    :'(

    It's a classic. Much better maps than Halo 3.

  • TeaFiend #18 2 years ago

    This means over 100 friends soon I guess. Hurrah for some overly popular folk!

  • chrisjm #19 2 years ago

    and this is why the 'cloud' type gaming concept should never be allowed to take off.

  • Mr_Brown #20 2 years ago

    What about Games on demand? surely they could run these through a more efficient 360 XBL. Perhaps add achievements or features. They might be worth the asking price then...

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #21 2 years ago

    I guess maybe Halo 2 fans might be pissed, but aren't most H2 maps remade for H3 anyway? Overall don't think this is too big a deal.

  • louyfitz #22 2 years ago

    Sweet! I'm not the only one who has to turn on Conkers: BFD for a quick laugh every now and then.

    At least the single player will still work, online was pretty broken most of the time anyway.

  • bivith #23 2 years ago

    I guess I can retire my Burnout 2 disc now.

  • Eighthours #24 2 years ago

    There's one simple reason for this: MS couldn't figure out how to increase the Friends List cap of 100 without borking Xbox 1 games. So finally it's decided "to hell with it".

    While it's unfortunate for people who still play Halo 2, it's going to open up Xbox Live to a whole new level of enhancements. The Friends cap was becoming increasingly silly.

  • TRUTH #25 2 years ago

    WHAT THE F**K - How the hell I'm gonna plat Street Fight III 3rd Strike (so much better then the over the top SF IV)!

  • Malek86 #26 2 years ago

    Well, I hope this will pave the way for that Halo HD. Or whatever they want to call it. As log as they don't butcher the game with rechargeable health, it will be awesome.

  • Paulie_P #27 2 years ago

    LOUD NOISES!

  • buggrit #28 2 years ago

    Please let this mean they'll be increasing the retarded friendslist size.

  • Machetazo #29 2 years ago

    Pretty bad news for the Conker, and particularly, Third Strike stalwarts. :(
    Capcom, NOW are you going to make some kind of HD move on that...

  • bad09 #30 2 years ago

    In terms of the online you can't really blame them TBH, this is done all the time on PC with old games isn't it? Mind you I suppose many old games there have dedicated servers to make up for the loss.

    The last original game I tried to play online was Battlefront 2 early last year and there was just no games online as no one was playing. Big bummer for anyone playing online the biggies like Halo 2 though, and kinda dents the 360s great B/C selling point. At least offline still works I suppose.

    / glares at Sony
    Edited by 2 at 05/02/10 @ 12:52

  • Bitkari #31 2 years ago

    Never fret, my dear Xbox 1 owners. There are always alternatives for you to play your games with friends online... Xlink for example.


  • jack_klugman #32 2 years ago

    Steel Battalion: Line of Contact's value plummets.

  • Koborover #33 2 years ago

    No more OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast on Live? Now is the time for Sega and Sumo Digital to bring the courses from OutRun 2 to OutRun Online Arcade as DLC.

  • Bru-Man #34 2 years ago

    Was reading recently about this videogame archive in New York, then spotted this bit of news.
    It's fantastic that someone/organisation is archiving and keeping playable old videogames, but how do you preserve the multiplayer aspect when the multiplayer service is bespoke like Xbox Live or PSN? When those services inevitably disappear, so does an entire aspect of that game. Then who will be willing and have the money to employ people to create similar open systems that can be used to play them on - and would that even be legal?

    FYI, the place is called the National Center for the History of Electronic Games, or NCHEG and is in the Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY.
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 13:36

  • lukaz #35 2 years ago

    I wonder what happens to DLC and game updates. From my POV MS is ethically obligated to provide those services for as long as they don't open up the system and provide content and cryptographic keys to the public.

    It's the classic locked in situation with DRM.

    Think about all those 360 games missing system link and provding only XBL support (Forza 3 ...).
    Once XBL is dead, multiplayer is dead forever.

    On other systems you can use LAN gaming and route it over the internet.
    On 360 the systems disconnect if ping times are higher than on a usual LAN. MS's way to get you paying for XLB.

    For collectors and retrogamers all those things are a nightmare.
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 13:50

  • RedBeard729 #36 2 years ago

    I wonder how long into the life of the Xbox 540 they'll drop support for the 360, and what will happen to my XBLA games when that happens.
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 13:51

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #37 2 years ago

    Guys, who remembers XBconnect that online portal thing which made use of system link capability to play Xbox games online since before Xbox live, remember playing Halo 1 online using that.

    Bet they will be liking this news

    http://www.xbconnect.com/

  • rogueJT #38 2 years ago

    Major Nelson?
    What am I missing here?

  • doragor #39 2 years ago

    must head over to the Bungie forums and witness the meltdown.

  • Eraysor #40 2 years ago

    That sucks.

  • Retroid #41 2 years ago

    Just so people know:

    YOUR BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE GAMES WILL STILL WORK, THEY'RE NOT REMOVING THAT

    This just means that online gaming for Xbox games won't work.

    Why are they doing this? Well, several times when they've been asked about increasing the 100 capacity limit for the Friends List it was hard-encoded into original Xbox games whereas it's handled by the 360's OS/Dash. That's why we had the 100 friend limit, and that's why they're removing Xbox support, so that can be upgraded.

    A pity, but understandable.
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 14:43

  • lukaz #42 2 years ago

    @Retroid
    That's obvious.

    Regarding the 100 friends or other technical issues. I'm sure there could have been a workaround (like using 100 oldest friends or those most recent online, or separating the lists). MS just doesn't want to spend money on that.
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 14:52

  • penhalion #43 2 years ago

    I would be angry but, let's be honest, they kept this running for 8 years when they clearly didn't really have to. The games will still work and I can't say that I've ever met any of my friends online playing any really old xbox games.

    It's certainly not the same as the PS3 disaster, where old games don't work at all!

  • actionfitz #44 2 years ago

    No more Crimson Skies...
    CUNTS!
    /tears.

  • jag10 #45 2 years ago

    God of War collection! don't even try an copy this epicness!

  • kangarootoo #46 2 years ago

    Ok, so a few things here.

    1. Pulling support is understandable. They have to minimise variables as they move the service on.

    2. However, I wish they wouldn't say things like "but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community" when it is really not about benefitting the community. This is about reducing the costs of further developing XBLive. That is no bad thing, but I wish they would just call it what it is.

    3. The talk of "We will contact the Xbox Live members directly impacted by this change" makes me think there is some kind of partial refund type incentive in the works. If so, this is a good move. They could just drop support for XB games online and leave customers hanging, but if they give a partial or complete refund in points, I don't think people can reasonably ask for more.

  • Johnhost #47 2 years ago

    Port Halo CE and Halo 2 to Xbox 360 or XBLA and set them up for 360 servers...problem solved. Hell Halo CE could be easier still if they ported the PC version over.

  • kangarootoo #48 2 years ago

    "Port Halo CE and Halo 2 to Xbox 360 or XBLA and set them up for 360 servers...problem solved"

    Take a hole, fill it with gold, then cap it with a material that can be changed between liquid and solid by the power of thought, then pay someone £500 a day to keep an eye on it... problem solved.

    ;)
    Edited by 1 at 05/02/10 @ 16:51

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #49 2 years ago

    I'm actually surprised MS haven't proted Halo 1 & 2 over to 360 yet, using the H3 engine, and with added achievements. It'd solve any problems with what's obviously Xbox 1's most popular game (although why people are playing H2 and not H3 I don't know!)

  • AHiFi #50 2 years ago

    Sorry, but I'm absolutely pissed off by this. My friends list is consistently full, couldn't give a rat's arse. I'd rather be able to go back and play Halo 2, Splinter Cell: PT & CT, Battlefront 2 and many others than have more friends who add me and don't bother speaking to me.

  • neosalad #51 2 years ago

    most peopel wont be to bothered. as i think most peopel withxbox1's on live would now have a 360.
    but. games such as halo 2.... well. a few people wont be happy, though no doubt microsoft will release some sort of CE version for the 360 with live support. at least people can still play them in single player...

    the ps2 situation was different... wasnt really about online support but playing Ps2 games.

  • Retroid #52 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo: "2. However, I wish they wouldn't say things like "but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community" when it is really not about benefitting the community. This is about reducing the costs of further developing XBLive. That is no bad thing, but I wish they would just call it what it is."

    Actually, not really. They've said before that the 100 friend limit was hard-coded into each Xbox game which supported Live, the games had to have the Live code there, whereas on the 360 a lot of that is contained within the OS/Dashboard. They had to keep the 100 limit in order for original Xbox games (whether on the original machine or playing on 360) to work over Live, dropping this means they can expand and tweak the features on the 360 (and, by extension, future machines) because they're OS level, not game-by-game.

    I honestly have no idea why people have compared this to Sony removing PS2 BC, it's not the same thing AT ALL.

  • Pasco #53 2 years ago

    Dear Microsoft,

    make it so that there exists a better golf game than Links 2004 then you can turn off Xbox Live for the original Xbox.

    Or else!

  • Bander #54 2 years ago

    As has already been said, I hopes this leads to Street Fighter III 3rd Strike coming to XBLA.

    Although I don't know why Capcom hasn't done this already, unless they don't want a game from 1999 showing up SSFIITHDR and Street Fighter IV as being a bit rubbish.

  • Fleisch #55 2 years ago

    How am I meant to play Links 2004, the only decent golf game made for the last 10years?!?!

    really annoyed by this news.

  • Baggies1879 #56 2 years ago

    I agree with the comments about links 2004. Best golf game I've played and still had the occasional live game with my brother. Also hope that sega bring the extra tracks from outrun 2 but apart from that I don't mind too much. If it leads to future improvements of the live service I'm all for it.

  • dither #57 2 years ago

    But it's based on peer-to-peer! I suppose if it's true that it's holding back friend's lists then it has to go sometime however :(

  • TRUTH #58 2 years ago

    SF III (3rd Srtike) was so much better then the sillyl over the top and bit to much spinning camera that SF IV has become...The charm, timing, and better depth of gameplay surpasses SF IV in every way!...Also the silly spinning camera that goes all over the place when doing a special move simply doesn't have the sublime impact of SF III's - simply because it wasn't over the top and you could focus as what was happening onscreen and see everything (thanks to 2D).

    Come Capcom SF III in HD!...But keep it 2D.

  • lavalant #59 2 years ago

    Some of these xbox 1 games only appeared via the download service on xbox 360, really a disgrace that they are removing support for games which are effectively a few months old.

    I still play Splinter Cell CT online as it's one of the best online games around and regularly has online players. I still go back to halo2 also due to its superior multiplayer over halo3, so there's a lot of people going to pissed off and asking for refunds on their subscription.

  • oceanmotion #60 2 years ago

    Maybe Clans will return after this if that was an issue along with the 100 Friend Limit.

  • Sunyavadin #61 2 years ago

    This is utterly shit.

    But it could mean a new lease of life for my lanparties. Good thing I just bought a third 360.

  • The-Bodybuilder #62 2 years ago

    I'm actually miffed that people need more than 100 limit on friends list. I'e barely got 20.
    But I guess that's down to the fact that I only play people I know in real life.

  • FortysixterUK #63 2 years ago

    Why is this even an issue?
    PS2 games looked better on PS2 that the PS3
    I suppose xbox 1 games look better on xbox 1 than 360?
    I for one still have my old xbox and ps2 setup for ease of use.
    It's easier in my opinion.


  • melton #64 2 years ago

    It's great to see so much love for SF3: Third Strike here! Especially the Xbox version, as if you go to anywhere that still has an arcade, it's clear that people still play it, and the Dreamcast version has held its value pretty well, but chances are people who play the arcade and DC version don't really care about an XBLA or PSN version because I'm sure they're pretty happy with what they've got. The DC version's done me great for years.

    You Xbox guys are the key though, because you've got online vs mode! I'm sure as soon as that's taken away, there'll be a lot more demand for a new downloadable version. With Super SFIV on the horizon it seems pretty unlikely, but wasn't SF2 Turbo HD Remix released only a few months before SFIV anyway?

    A pretty exciting thought,as my DC scart lead's gone missing, and using RF gives Twelve a ghost that spills all the way across the screen all over my character!

  • RobotRocker #65 2 years ago

    SF3: 3S would be a pretty easy port compared to HDR anyway. Scale the backgrounds to 16:9, shove a Super Eagle Filter over it and add GGPO support. Granted this all depends on Backbone not fucking it up again but hey, there you have it.

    Might be a bit late though since its officially out of Evo 2K10 but it might be nice.

  • The-Builder #66 2 years ago

    I guess you could always play Halo 2 live on the PC, if you still want to play multiplayer.

  • kangarootoo #67 2 years ago

    @Retroid

    Ah, fair enough.

    "I honestly have no idea why people have compared this to Sony removing PS2 BC, it's not the same thing AT ALL."

    People are mental :)

  • sneetch #68 2 years ago

    I wonder if this bodes ill for the future of Xbox 360 games on Live? At some stage in the middle of the Xbox 720's (or whatever) life cycle will they pull the plug on the 360 too because of the need to make changes that aren't easily accommodated by the 360 in some way.

    I find it impossible to believe that they couldn't keep the support for Xbox 1 even while adding new features for 360 and future consoles/Windows Live. Take the 100 friend limit for example, it'd be a trivial task to provide an ability on 360 and windows to allow you to select which 100 of your Xbox Live friends you want to appear in your Xbox 1 friends list, if you've only got an Xbox 1 then you'll only have 100 friends anyway.