Three more years: Microsoft Xbox 360

Microsoft has announced that despite the imminent launch of the Xbox One, the Xbox 360 still has a lot of life left in it and will continue to be supported and games developed for the next three years.

Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi, speaking at the Citi Global Technology Conference, answered a question about Microsoft’s bottom line when it came to the Xbox One launch. Mehdi replied that the company wasn’t worried about their bottom line, thanks to the strong continuing support for the Xbox 360.

“You’ve seen us over the years constantly be focused on profitability and improving year over year,” he said. “There are different points in the cycle of when you invest in new hardware. If you look at 360 that platform lasted for seven to eight years and it’s going to go for another three years. It’s incredibly profitable now in the tail.

Mehdi pointed to Xbox Live as a factor in the continuing effort to support the Xbox 360. Xbox Live subscriptions will carry over and exist on both the Xbox One and 360, giving fans two consoles to choose to play on.

He later on also commented on Microsoft’s pricing strategy for the Xbox One, saying “the strategy will continue which is that we’re looking to be break even or low margin at worst, and then make money selling additional games, the Xbox Live service and other capabilities on top.”

A good, long life

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 exploded onto the market, selling out at launch on 22 November 2005 and moving over 78 million units to date. The console recently received a new chassis design and the Slim version is currently available at a starting price of R1,999 for the 4GB model. Should Microsoft choose to discontinue the console in 2016, it will have been in service for eleven years.

This will be the first time that Microsoft supports a previous-generation console with such attention. The original Xbox continued to be marketed and sold until 2006, where it went into advanced support for warranty purposes until 2007 in Japan and 2008 in North America and Europe. It sold 24 million units.

Sony’s Playstation 2 also continued to be sold and manufactured after the PS3’s launch, eventually discontinued on 4 January 2013 after a twelve year-long life cycle. Over this time, it moved 155 million units across the globe.

The Playstation 3 Slim has recently been marked down by Sony to $199 for the 12GB model and will continue to be supported by Sony and its publishing partners. A Playstation Plus subscription now covers the PS3, the Vita, and the upcoming PS4.