Microsoft has abruptly ceased selling digital films and TV on its Xbox and PC stores.
The change happened on July 18, when site reads: “Microsoft no longer offers new entertainment content for purchase, including movies and TV shows, on Microsoft.com, Microsoft Store on Windows, and the Microsoft Store on Xbox One [6,893 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/xbox/xb1/”>Xbox One launch, which positioned the console as an “all-in-one home entertainment device”.
Xbox One’s reveal event focused almost entirely on television content, in fact – something that current gaming boss said in 2019. “We showed things like The Price is Right, for instance. In fact, I think the first piece of content that we ever showed on an Xbox One was a TV show.”
The Microsoft support site now recommends that customers use third-party services available on the Microsoft Store, such as Amazon Games [672 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/amazon-games/”>Amazon Prime, and more. Microsoft has not announced what has sparked the change.
Microsoft announced sweeping layoffs earlier this month, which could result in over 9,000 staff members losing their jobs.
In the company’s gaming sector, the troubled reboot of Perfect Dark has been cancelled, and The Initiative has been closed. Rare’s Everwild has also been cancelled, and several senior developers have left the historic studio.
ZeniMax Online Studios boss Matt Firor has also announced that he is leaving the studio amid the cancellation of Project Blackbird, a long-in-development project at the studio.
