Microsoft Just Killed One Of Its Digital Stores

Streaming is currently many people’s preferred method of watching shows and movies, and for many, gone are the days of buying and owning stuff in a digital library. Now, Microsoft is killing off its storefront meant for this purpose.

Microsoft has abruptly shut down its movie and TV purchasing and rental service. Effective immediately, users can no longer buy or rent video content from the Microsoft Store on either Xbox consoles or Windows PCs. Content that has already been bought can still be viewed and downloaded through the dedicated Microsoft Movies & TV application on both Windows and Xbox devices, so at least that’s not going away if you already dropped money on some digital purchases. Or at least it shouldn’t. Microsoft assured users that “downloads will continue to be available on Windows and in HD max resolution,” but confirmed it will not be offering refunds for any past purchases.

This arrangement sounds nice on paper, but it leaves customers entirely dependent on Microsoft’s continued support for the Movies & TV app and the associated content delivery servers. If Microsoft ever wants to shut down any of these servers (and it might, since it’s a service they are discontinuing, and they will eventually want to use those resources for something else), you’re going to lose access to the movies and shows you paid real money for. You’d be right to be concerned about the long-term viability of your digital collections—it might be fine today, but you never know what Microsoft could attempt in the future. Unused servers are routinely switched off after a period of time, and it’s something that happens with old online storefronts relatively frequently.

Related

The Future of Streaming: Will We Ever Own Movies Again?

Our libraries are vanishing.

The one significant exception is for content linked to the Movies Anywhere service in the United States. If your eligible movie purchases were synced with Movies Anywhere, you will be able to access those films through other connected platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV. It’s a limited safeguard that will let you keep access to that content as long as those other platforms continue to be live.

The closure has been “nervously anticipated” ever since Microsoft made a similar move in 2017 by shuttering its Groove Music service. That decision, which also left users with purchased digital music files but no integrated storefront, set an ugly precedent. Back then, Microsoft shut down the Groove servers, leaving users without an option to download their purchased files. Microsoft might eventually try the same thing here, though maybe not immediately to avoid (or delay) user backlash.

It had a long run, but all good (and not that good) things must eventually come to an end.

Source: The Verge