Microsoft to Discontinue Xbox Services on Windows Phone in May

Microsoft to Discontinue Xbox Services on Windows Phone in May
By Solo Wing

Crimson Dragon: Side Story and other Windows Phone games will no longer work with Xbox features such as achievements and cloud saves, as of May 16, 2022.

Microsoft has announced (via a notification in the Xbox app on for iOS and Android) that Xbox services on Windows Phone will be retired. The retirement of Xbox services comes about on May 16, 2022, over a year after the final security update was released for Windows Phone in January 2020. Thanks to Windows Central for reporting this news.

The announcement in the Xbox app is as follows:

Starting May 16, 2022, Xbox features will no longer be supported on Windows Phone devices. As part of this change, earning achievements will be retired on Windows Phone devices. Some games may still be playable on your phone, but progress will not be recorded to your Xbox profile.

In 2012 Grounding released Crimson Dragon: Side Story, a 2.5D side scroller with many similarities to Panzer Dragoon, exclusively for Windows Phone 7. Crimson Dragon: Side Story came with tight integration with Xbox Live, including achievements that would contribute toward the player’s gamerscore and even visual clothes that could be added to the player’s avatar on Xbox 360. The game is still available for purchase from Microsoft, and while these Xbox specific features will no longer be available, this is not a confirmation that the game will cease to be playable.