NEW YORK – A decade after the popular gaming console first launched, Microsoft announced that it will no longer manufacture the Xbox 360.
The company added that it will continue to sell existing inventory of the consoles, and will continue to support the Xbox 360 for the foreseeable future, with full Xbox Live services for apps and online gaming. Microsoft's third-party partners have begun to retire Xbox 360 services.
"Xbox 360 means a lot to everyone in Microsoft," Xbox head Phil Spencer posted online. "And while we’ve had an amazing run, the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep up on us. Which is why we have made the decision to stop manufacturing new Xbox 360 consoles. We will continue to sell existing inventory of Xbox 360 consoles, with availability varying by country."
First released in late 2005 to replace the original Xbox, the 360 become a massive success, selling more than 80 million units.
"The console became a beloved gaming and entertainment hub with over 78 billion gaming hours played, nearly 486 billion Gamerscore on 27 billion achievements and over 25 billion hours spent in apps over its lifetime," Spencer wrote.
Microsoft introduced its current console, the Xbox One, in 2013 and is expected to release an updated version of the hardware this year.
