Bungie’s classic Halo 3 will be shutting down on Xbox 360 on January 13, along with Halo 4, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Halo: Sparta Raid and other games in the Halo series. Because 343 Industries said they will prioritize newly released games. While Halo 3 and other games can still be played online through Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the original Xbox 360 servers are now permanently down.
After the servers shut down, many players flooded social media with nostalgic tributes to the great game in Halo 3-related conversations. Players share the beautiful past when they played Halo 3, and share the true feelings of playing the game. The Xbox 360 version of Halo 3’s matchmaking lobby shows a heatmap showing where people in the world are connecting from and how many players are online at a given time, now that the lights have gone out and the player count has reached 0.
The days of Halo 3 on Xbox 360 are over, like a friend who has been with you for a long time suddenly waved goodbye to you. Just like a simulator can simulate games, but it won’t stimulate your youth, it won’t simulate your friends playing games together, and it won’t let you go back to that good time.
- September 25, 2007 – Halo 3 was released, millions were online, and the population map was lit up, showing everyone’s location.
- January 13, 2022 – Halo 3 Xbox 360 servers are offline. The population map has finally dimmed.
The end of an era.
one final ride #halo3 pic.twitter.com/ArTkTOYmzN
— Meeks | GunFight TTV  (@gunfightTTV) January 12, 2022
Just helped a group of strangers get some of the last difficult Halo 3 achievements, we then played some team games together, and I realised half an hour turned into three hours. I’ve missed this 🥲 #Halo3 pic.twitter.com/WrgmazyNF8
— Siôn Jones (@SionTheSh33p) January 11, 2022
Nothing but Dust and Echos.. 😢ðŸ˜
Good bye old friend. #Halo #halo3 pic.twitter.com/9hLysAU8Iz
— Kidskull (@Kidskull51) January 13, 2022
The original #Halo3 servers shut down today. Godspeed. pic.twitter.com/biATS95wd3
— Evaneutron 🧬 (@evaneutron) January 12, 2022