According to the head of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer, the Xbox 360 may well be with us for quite a long time yet.
With the next generation coming up quickly, some may expect that the Xbox 360 will fall by the wayside as Microsoft transitions to the next generation. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, as Spencer says it has "a lot more than just two years left."
Speaking to GameSpot, Spencer said, "It's a platform that has really reached scale; this is the time when you really see the great content showing up. The future in a lot of ways is always tomorrow: [things like] the SmartGlass technology and Windows 8 [show that] things are going to constantly evolve.
"The world where everything gets centered around one console and when that comes out--we kind of have to evolve away from just thinking about that, [especially] with the service-based nature of games today. Right now the Xbox 360 is really healthy and it's doing incredibly well. I think the 360 has a lot more than two years [left]. It has legs for a long time."
The original Xbox disappeared from store shelves the instant there was even a whisper of an Xbox 360 being released, sparking some worries that Microsoft may be dropping support for 360 sooner rather than later.
However, we expect Microsoft will keep supporting Xbox 360 for quite a while after the Xbox 720 arrives. Especially if they both share the same version of Xbox Live. Even if the first party games stop flowing, that doesn't prevent users from using their 360 for Netflix, purchasing videos, nor does it prevent third party developers from leveraging the tens of millions of current Xbox owners. So fret not, 360 owners.
