This morning hit a little different for me as I was getting out of bed, as I was greeted with a news clip from MIcrosoft stating that starting July 18th, 2025, the Microsoft Movies and TV app will no longer sell movies or TV shows.  I mean, the news was so sudden that the store is still really broken, with movie pages popping up, but either nothing showing, or having an ominous Not Available for Purchase button.

A console manufacturer shutting down its movies and TV store isn’t all that strange, as Sony did it many years ago on the PlayStation, but this one hits a little differently for me, as I was a big supporter of the Movies and TV app.  I amassed a large collection of movies and TV shows over the years, as I always liked the sales that Microsoft would have, including whole seasons of shows for discounts at times.  I mean here I sit with thousands of items purchased, and now, I have to look to other storefronts to buy my media in the future.

Now Microsoft has said that your purchases are going nowhere and that you will be able to view them in the future, but for how long exactly?  I mean, this is what we talk about when you find out that nothing truly belongs to you in the digital world.  One day, I could find out that Microsoft has decided my thousands of dollars of purchase mean nothing and to just suck it up.  Yes, we have known that we have no rights in a digital world, but again, this one hits different when you have been a solid supporter of a media store.  

I think the bigger problem with this is how sudden it was for people.  I mean, literally with no warning, the store was just shut down.  No, “prepare for the end of the year”, statement, just gone.  I mean, even Anthem of all things got a six month runway before its slow, meandering death.

So, I will sit here tonight and probably watch some of my purchases that I have made on Microsoft Movies and TV, but I will know that my library will never see more cool sales and purchases again.

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