First off, let me say that I greatly appreciate the communication 343i is providing us on their plan of action and the steps they are taking on the sunsetting process. My question or support topic is can we look into having the seven Halo Xbox 360 games made available again for digital purchase up to a certain date (prior to the December 2021 shutoff)? Once we reach this date then the games can be delisted again. I understand the news article has a question similar to mine (with an answer), but I would like for us to explore the idea of giving everyone the opportunity to get these titles digitally before they are gone forever.
The news article, while very straightforward, was abrupt in the decision to fully stop digital sales per internal policy. I understand relisting the games creates a bit of extra work, however, this process would be very transparent and lead to potential sales. I believe the Forza series goes through this process as their games reach end of life due to licensing agreements. People usually remind the community that the store removal date is coming up so all that wish to own the game have a chance to get it before it is delisted.
I would gladly purchase all the titles that were delisted if they were relisted again, so I can fully utilize the digital option for future Xbox console(s) without a disc drive. I tried contacting Microsoft Store support over the weekend and they are unable to assist me with purchasing any of these delisted games. Also looked on the old 360 marketplace webpages and they are delisted there as well. I understand this is probably not a huge topic for most when it comes to the sunsetting news, however, I cannot be alone in asking the above question.
I appreciate any help/additional feedback on this.
You may still install the games if you are a Game Pass subscriber. Xbox confirmed the games will not be removed from Game Pass. Depending how much you play the games, and whether you consider distributing the cost of a game over all your play time, it may even be cheaper than buying the games individually.
Thank you Geoffyz for reading this and trying to help. I just checked the Game Pass game list and did not see any of the Xbox 360 games that were delisted. Maybe I am missing something? (I am not a GP subscriber)
I think GP is a great option that a ton of people enjoy and utilize, but it is not for me. I would much rather “own” a digital game compared to having a revolving library that is constantly changed without my input. Xbox could keep the titles in the rotation until a few months/years down the road where they decide to retire them there too. That probably doesn’t make sense for them to do, but it is always a possibility. Plus I “own” a good portion of the games that they currently keep in the GP rotation, so I would not be able to justify having GP just for the delisted games.
I’m so bumped right now, I planned to buy all these games digitally just this year for the very same reason, but thought to wait on a sale, because some were still quite expensive.
While I own all X-Box 360 Halo’s retail + Spartan Assault (and Halo: Reach additionally) digital, I still miss Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, Halo CE: Anniversary and Halo 4 in my collection.
I wanna have them all!
I’m also aware there is a Halo: The Master Chief Collection wich I own twice retail (don’t ask, I don’t know why I own it twice anymore), but to be honest…it’s still a bit buggy and the higher resolution makes some of the games a bit more uglier than the original versions.
Please, 343industries, give us die hard Halo fans the chance to buy all the games digital for a limited time at least.
At this point I would even pay the original price just to have them all.
> 2533274842650554;3:
> Thank you Geoffyz for reading this and trying to help. I just checked the Game Pass game list and did not see any of the Xbox 360 games that were delisted. Maybe I am missing something? (I am not a GP subscriber)
>
> I think GP is a great option that a ton of people enjoy and utilize, but it is not for me. I would much rather “own” a digital game compared to having a revolving library that is constantly changed without my input. Xbox could keep the titles in the rotation until a few months/years down the road where they decide to retire them there too. That probably doesn’t make sense for them to do, but it is always a possibility. Plus I “own” a good portion of the games that they currently keep in the GP rotation, so I would not be able to justify having GP just for the delisted games.
>
> Thanks,
> Manic
Yeah, someone checked and it seems they aren’t there. Here is a link to the Tweet exchange that confused me and a few other people. LINK
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> > 2533274842650554;3:
> > Thank you Geoffyz for reading this and trying to help. I just checked the Game Pass game list and did not see any of the Xbox 360 games that were delisted. Maybe I am missing something? (I am not a GP subscriber)
> >
> > I think GP is a great option that a ton of people enjoy and utilize, but it is not for me. I would much rather “own” a digital game compared to having a revolving library that is constantly changed without my input. Xbox could keep the titles in the rotation until a few months/years down the road where they decide to retire them there too. That probably doesn’t make sense for them to do, but it is always a possibility. Plus I “own” a good portion of the games that they currently keep in the GP rotation, so I would not be able to justify having GP just for the delisted games.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Manic
>
> Yeah, someone checked and it seems they aren’t there. Here is a link to the Tweet exchange that confused me and a few other people. LINK
Interesting to say the least…I share in the confusion from these tweets. Maybe the GP twitter rep was talking about being available in physical copies? Multiple Microsoft store support agents tried to get me to go this route when I requested the digital product. Coming from the GP twitter account, I would assume they are responding based on their area of involvement being the GP side of things, but who knows.
From my perspective, it makes sense to add them to the GP library as that is another 7 games they can advertise as always having available. However, if they are going to add them to GP in 2021, why not just leave them on the store for now and just transition/delist them? Again, it would be a regular communication from 343i/GP Team to say these titles are being added to GP and will no longer be available for digital purchase on xx/xx/2021. I think you even get some sort of discount on buying games through GP correct?
I have only seen one other discussion on this topic from the community, but hope that someone from 343i/MS will still reach out at some point to discuss. I understand this is probably the first time they are going through this process, so I would like to be constructive and understanding to everyone.
I do completely agree on your point that it would be preferable if we could purchase a digital version of these games just for the purpose of not having to worry about having a functional disc for these games. For me, I would definitely purchase Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4 and Halo Wars if they became available to be purchased on the Microsoft Store.
While maybe not the exact route you want to go, I Googled “Halo 3 digital code” etc. to find full game downloads that way from a prepaid card. From what I understand, they should still work. It isn’t through the Xbox Store, but it may be a potential workaround.
> 2533274841925847;8:
> While maybe not the exact route you want to go, I Googled “Halo 3 digital code” etc. to find full game downloads that way from a prepaid card. From what I understand, they should still work. It isn’t through the Xbox Store, but it may be a potential workaround.
Thank you dryrain23. I have actually been looking into this route recently. I called MS support and the rep I spoke with said the prepaid cards should work, so that raised a bit of hope in me. With that said, I proceeded to purchase a Halo 4 code from Walmart (North America) this past week, but they emailed me today saying it is out of stock even though it shows available on their website.
Halo CE Anniversary - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
Halo 3 - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere. Halo 3 ODST - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
Halo Spartan Assault - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
Halo Wars - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere. Halo Reach - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. Halo 4 - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. (Walmart being the only exception)
If you (or anyone else) are able to find these available anywhere please let me know. My plan is to share anything ITT if I am able to locate/purchase any of the games so others can have the opportunity to do so as well.
> 2533274842650554;9:
> > 2533274841925847;8:
> > While maybe not the exact route you want to go, I Googled “Halo 3 digital code” etc. to find full game downloads that way from a prepaid card. From what I understand, they should still work. It isn’t through the Xbox Store, but it may be a potential workaround.
>
> Thank you dryrain23. I have actually been looking into this route recently. I called MS support and the rep I spoke with said the prepaid cards should work, so that raised a bit of hope in me. With that said, I proceeded to purchase a Halo 4 code from Walmart (North America) this past week, but they emailed me today saying it is out of stock even though it shows available on their website.
>
> Halo CE Anniversary - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> Halo 3 - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> Halo 3 ODST - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
> Halo Spartan Assault - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> Halo Wars - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> Halo Reach - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
> Halo 4 - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. (Walmart being the only exception)
>
> If you (or anyone else) are able to find these available anywhere please let me know. My plan is to share anything ITT if I am able to locate/purchase any of the games so others can have the opportunity to do so as well.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated!
>
> Thanks,
> Manic
The only one I ended up finding was Halo Reach. I do know when the Xbox One X released some YouTuber’s were given review units with Halo 3 codes (since it was One X Enhanced) but don’t know how easy one of those would be to find, considering I couldn’t find one.
> 2533274841925847;10:
> > 2533274842650554;9:
> > > 2533274841925847;8:
> > > While maybe not the exact route you want to go, I Googled “Halo 3 digital code” etc. to find full game downloads that way from a prepaid card. From what I understand, they should still work. It isn’t through the Xbox Store, but it may be a potential workaround.
> >
> > Thank you dryrain23. I have actually been looking into this route recently. I called MS support and the rep I spoke with said the prepaid cards should work, so that raised a bit of hope in me. With that said, I proceeded to purchase a Halo 4 code from Walmart (North America) this past week, but they emailed me today saying it is out of stock even though it shows available on their website.
> >
> > Halo CE Anniversary - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> > Halo 3 - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> > Halo 3 ODST - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
> > Halo Spartan Assault - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> > Halo Wars - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere.
> > Halo Reach - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
> > Halo 4 - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. (Walmart being the only exception)
> >
> > If you (or anyone else) are able to find these available anywhere please let me know. My plan is to share anything ITT if I am able to locate/purchase any of the games so others can have the opportunity to do so as well.
> >
> > Any help is greatly appreciated!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Manic
>
> The only one I ended up finding was Halo Reach. I do know when the Xbox One X released some YouTuber’s were given review units with Halo 3 codes (since it was One X Enhanced) but don’t know how easy one of those would be to find, considering I couldn’t find one.
Same the only one that is “easy” to find something for is Halo Reach. I actually was able to purchase a code off a website called Bonanza this past week for around $15 USD. I tried it out today and it works for me (NA) for Halo Reach. If anyone else wants the link to the Bonanza posting DM me (assuming the person keeps selling them).
Updated the below based on input from dryrain23 and further research from myself:
Halo CE Anniversary - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere. Halo 3 - Digital codes released to YouTubers unable to find any available Halo 3 ODST - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. Halo Spartan Assault - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available.
Halo Wars - Not sure they ever did full game digital codes for this game? I cannot find anything anywhere. Halo Reach - Have seen full digital codes for this game on websites called Bonanza and Mecari. Halo 4 - Have seen full digital codes for this game but unable to find any available. (Walmart being the only exception)
I am still holding out hope that someone from 343i or Xbox will reach out to us.
I hope you’re able to find the codes soon! I own them all physically but it would be cool to have these digitally to future-proof being able to play them on an all-digital console. Hopefully, Microsoft responds soon. They could even post a note in the store saying that the games go offline at the end of 2021 to avoid any complaints from angry customers who may be new to the 360 Halo games.
Please see below link for another thread that was created with the same end goal as this one. I will continue to monitor this thread, but would ask that we consolidate all our efforts into the one thread listed below to give us a better chance to be noticed.