Xbox 360 Gets Its First System Update in Two Years

Two years since Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 had been discontinued, it delivered a minor system update on Tuesday last week, which is surprising news to say the least.

The official update notes say the new version, numbered 2.0.17526.0, brings "minor bug fixes and improvements". That's it, nothing more. It's interesting to see Microsoft still supporting the old console, even though not a single game has released for the Xbox 360 this year.

In 2017, just four new titles supported the Xbox 360: video game based on the film Cars 3: Driven to Win, football sim Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, basketball sim NBA 2K18, and dance rhythm game Just Dance 2018. Both Konami and 2K have already said that their respective titles, PES 2018 and NBA 2K18, were the last entries for the previous generation of consoles.

Before the new update, the previous one came all the way back in March 2016, which also contained "minor bug fixed and improvements" and nothing else. In the intervening time, backward compatibility on the Xbox One – it now supports over 500 games, from the 360 and original Xbox era – has negated the need for keeping the Xbox 360 hooked up to your TV if you already own the Xbox One.

First launched in November 2005, the Xbox 360 competed directly with Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. It was known for the Kinect motion sensing camera. As of June 2014, it has sold over 84 million units worldwide, about the same as the PS3.

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