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Xbox One health app Xbox Fitness is to close, Microsoft has announced, and once it does, all previously purchased content will become inaccessible.
Premium content has already been removed for purchase from the Xbox Store, Microsoft says, although users that have already bought items have only one year left to use them.
“Since November 2013, Xbox Fitness has allowed you to experience the world’s best workouts with famous trainers, right in the comfort of your own home,” Microsoft’s Erica Bell said in an update posted on the Microsoft Studios website.
“As a service, Xbox Fitness has continually evolved since it launched on Xbox One, with new content and ongoing updates. Given the service relies on providing you with new and exciting content regularly, Microsoft has given much consideration to the reality updating the service regularly in order to sustain it. Therefore, the decision has been made to scale back our support for Xbox Fitness over the next year, and we want to provide our users with a timeline of the changes you will see.”
- Beginning [yesterday], June 27, 2016, Xbox Fitness content will no longer be available for purchase. For existing users of Xbox Fitness, the content you’ve purchased will be available to play for a year, through June 30, 2017.
- On December 15, 2016, we will be removing our “Free with Gold” offer. Until then, Gold members will still be able to access and play the over 30+ workouts available for streaming as a part of this offer for free.
- On July 1, 2017, Xbox Fitness (and all associated content) will no longer be available for download/play. This includes content you’ve purchased. At that time, Xbox Fitness will no longer be available for download from Xbox Marketplace and content will not be available for play from the Xbox Marketplace nor within the game. Xbox Fitness users will no longer be able access Xbox Fitness and the associated workouts/programs.
Microsoft’s update does not discuss whether or not players will be eligible to receive refunds on previously purchased content.
Understandably, the decision to close the service and remove access to content has upset some users on the Xbox Forums, with one stating that they are “pretty *** off that they are shutting down something I paid for within the lifetime of the hardware.”
“Why can’t we just download and keep it?” asks another. “This makes no sense.”
“While our team is saddened by this news, we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past two and a half years,” Bell continued. “We know that many of you have used Xbox Fitness to begin your fitness journey, to supplement it, or as a way to redefine your own fitness story. We’re glad we could be a part of the journey.”
Source: microsoftstudios.com
