In an interview over at Next-Gen.biz Mark Witten of Microsoft has revealled plans are afoot to start `delisting` Arcade titles that are seen as under performing. Witten goes on to explain further, that to be eligible for removal:
- The game must have a Metacritic score of less that 65%
- It must be more than 6 months old
- It must have a conversion rate (in other words the percentage of demo downloaders who switch to the full thing) of less than 6%
Based on the Metacritic score there are presently around 45 Arcade games which could be facing removal, although Microsoft has never revealed information on conversion rates.
It’s been stated that at least three months warning will be given of the game getting pulled from the Live Arcade listings. At this stage it’s unclear whether people who’ve already downloaded it will be able to obtain it again.
The article also says that there will be no Spring Dashboard update as rumoured last week, but he confirms that an feature will be released via Xbox.com to resolve the 360′s problems with the DRM for Live Arcade games being tied to the system they were downloaded on.
Update: In a Q and A post over at Gamerscore Blog it appears that there’s clarification on what happens to items you’ve downloaded and have subsequently been delisted:
Q: If I bought a game, and deleted it, can I redownload it even if it’s been delisted?
A: Yes, you can. Go to Download History under the Account Management section of marketplace (far left blade).
Q: Can I still play a game after it’s been delisted? What about playing online? What about leaderboards?
A: Yes, yes, and yes. The game will function normally even after being delisted. You can continue to play the game single and multiplayer, as well as use the leaderboards as you normally would.
