The importance of videogame preservation is not talked about enough, especially now when most game sales a digital. What happens when servers go down or games are no longer supported or being sold? Well, the answer can be seen with the announcement from Microsoft that it's delisting a bunch of Xbox 360 games from sale.

With the following batch of titles set to be removed from the Xbox 360 Marketplace in Australia.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed IV
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
Blood of the Werewolf
Blue Dragon
Breakdown
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Castle Crashers
Cloning Clyde
Counter-Strike: GO
Dark Souls
Darksiders II
DAYTONA USA
Defense Grid
Eets: Chowdown
Far Cry 2
Final Fight: DblImpact
Iron Brigade
Jet Set Radio
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
LIMBO
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect 2
MONOPOLY DEAL
Mutant Blobs Attack
N+
Outpost Kaloki X
Peggle 2
Phantom Breaker:Battle Grounds
Prince of Persia
R.U.S.E.
Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
Skate 2
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Spelunky
SplinterCellConviction
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars KOTOR 2
The Orange Box

It's quite the list, with some massive Xbox 360 games included. The games will still be downloadable for those that own them but come February 7 you'll no longer be able to purchase these games.

“Beginning on February 7, 2023, a limited set of games, add-ons, and in-game content will no longer be purchasable in select markets via the Xbox 360 Store,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Gematsu. “These titles will no longer be purchasable on the Xbox 360 Store only, and titles that are available to be purchased on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S Stores will remain purchasable. You will still be able to play discs or previously downloaded games on your Xbox 360 and modern consoles if they are backwards compatible titles.”

Speaking with Jason Ronald, Director of Program Management for Xbox Series X|S, back in 2021, we talked about the idea of game preservation as part of the backwards compatibility program.

“A lot of the challenges we also run into are rights issues or licensing issues,” Jason explained, noting that the further back in time the team goes the more difficult this side becomes. “Even if we can technically get the game working, maybe the developer doesn't exist anymore, or maybe the song rights have expired. It's a multi-dimensional challenge between technology, legal challenges and business considerations. We do everything that we can to bring as many games as possible forward."