service discontinuation Archives

AppWizard

July 21, 2025

Ubisoft CEO responds to the Stop Killing Games petition, stating the publisher is ‘working on’ improving its approach to end-of-life support, but that ‘nothing is eternal’

During Ubisoft's annual shareholder meeting, CEO Yves Guillemot addressed concerns about the Stop Killing Games campaign, which arose after the shutdown of Ubisoft's online racing game, The Crew. He acknowledged the complexities of supporting online games and stated that while Ubisoft strives to support its games, "nothing is eternal." Guillemot clarified that the campaign does not demand perpetual support but calls for end-of-life plans allowing games to function independently after official support ends. Ubisoft plans to implement such measures for The Crew 2, enabling offline play in the future. He also noted that as technology evolves, certain software may become outdated, necessitating new versions of games. The Stop Killing Games campaign has surpassed one million signatures, but concerns about potential signature spoofing have been raised by organizer Ross Scott, which could affect the campaign's credibility.

Winsage

July 19, 2025

Microsoft shuts down Movies & TV digital storefront on Xbox and Windows

Microsoft will discontinue its Movies & TV digital storefront on Xbox consoles and Windows devices on July 18, 2025, ending the ability to purchase new movies and TV shows through the Microsoft Store. Users will still have access to previously purchased content via the Movies & TV application on their devices. The closure will affect new entertainment content acquisitions on Microsoft.com and the Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox, but users can continue to enjoy their existing digital libraries. The refund policy for movies and TV shows will remain unchanged, with purchases being ineligible for refunds. Content portability options are available through Movies Anywhere for U.S. residents, but direct migration to alternative services is largely unavailable. Third-party entertainment services will continue to be available on Microsoft's platforms for new content purchases. The Movies & TV storefront has been operational since 2015, evolving from earlier services. Microsoft will maintain server infrastructure for existing content libraries and provide ongoing support for previously purchased content. Content licensing agreements will dictate the availability of purchased titles.

Winsage

July 10, 2025

Microsoft’s dreaded ‘Blue Screen of Death’ is going away: Here’s what’s replacing it

Microsoft is revamping the "Blue Screen of Death" error message in Windows, replacing it with a "Black Screen of Death." This change is a response to the CrowdStrike outage from the previous year and will be implemented for current Windows 11 users later this summer. Additionally, Microsoft has officially discontinued Skype, which was announced in May following a previous announcement in February about its phase-out.