Microsoft planned to shut down the servers for several Xbox 360-era Halo games in December 2021, but the end-date has shifted to the following month.
The end of service date for the Xbox 360 Halo games has been pushed back to January 13, 2022, Microsoft has announced. If you already own these games--which include Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Halo 3, and more--you'll be able to continue to play them indefinitely, but multiplayer support is getting switched off.
"Maintaining these legacy services today requires significant time and resources which directly impacts the studio's ability to support current and future projects like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite," 343 said.
Additionally, the number of people playing these "legacy" games each month "continues to dwindle." As such, 343 said it is shutting these games down so the studio can "prioritize on areas and opportunities that yield the greatest impact."
Online services for the following titles are affected:
- Halo: Reach
- Halo 4
- Halo 3
- Halo 3: ODST
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Spartan Assault
- Halo Wars
This also applies to backwards compatible versions of the games, but it does not impact games included with Halo: The Master Chief Collection. "The Halo titles within MCC have been rebuilt and remastered to leverage totally different, modernized services and will not be affected by this sunsetting," 343 said.
In other Halo news, Microsoft has just released brand-new campaign footage for Halo Infinite, showing off new environments, enemies, vehicles, and more. The game finally releases on December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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