All those Xbox 360s out there didn't turn into pumpkins on November 22nd."
Just how long will Microsoft be able to sustain the Xbox 360? The firm has claimed that it'll last till 2016, with over 100 new games on the way as of September last year, but Activision has cast doubt on the idea, revealing that it sold fewer last gen games than expected during its fiscal Q4 2013.
Undead Labs has a more optimistic view of the situation. The developer released new DLC for its flagship Xbox Live Arcade release, State of Decay, over the winter, and demand has been strong despite the frenzy over next gen console launches.As always, we've been surprised and delighted at the support of our community," the developer's Sanya Weathers told me by email. "Word of mouth continues to be the biggest asset we have (outside the game itself, of course!). We crossed the million sales milestone while the game was in Early Access on Steam, and things have been clipping along nicely ever since.
"I'm still pretty giddy when I think about it. In six months we sold more than four times what anyone thought we'd sell over the lifetime of the game."
Breakdown is more of a reshuffle than an expansion - it allows you to play the game without the story, moving from area to area in an RV. "DLC helps keep momentum going," Weathers added, though she had no sales figures to share. "Sure, the timing of Breakdown's launch was a bit... challenging, but here's the thing: All those Xbox 360s out there didn't suddenly turn into pumpkins at midnight on November 22nd.
"A lot of media attention is focused on the shiny things, but there are millions of people who either can't or won't spend money on the first production run of new hardware. We don't mind providing options for millions of people, assuming we can find ways to let them know we're here for them."
I wrote a blog about the Xbox 360's afterlife in December. The gist: this console has one of the finest software portfolios on the planet, and you can develop for it without breaking the bank. Why stop now?
State of Decay is to receive another DLC pack, Lifeline - read more about it here. Undead Labs has signed a multi-game exclusivity deal with Microsoft Studios that includes, I assume, a new State of Decay title for Xbox One. Here are six ways to make it Xbox One's best zombie game.