Last summer, Microsoft caused a bit of a stir when they announced that Xbox Live titles which didn’t meat a certain sales ratio and which had Metacritic scores below a certain point would be pulled from the service. There wasn’t a lot of argument regarding this decision, as many felt that Xbox Live is already cluttered with a lot of unworthy titles, and clearing up space would make the worthwhile games easier to find and dissuade consumers from spending good money on bad games. It seems that such a move may have just been a figment of our imagination, as Xbox Live boss Dennis Schappert has stated that the company has no intention to pull games off the service after all.

Schappert stated at TGS that earlier statements were "taken out of context," and that Microsoft has simply "set parameters by which we can de-list" under-performing titles. He went on to say that games would only be removed from the service if it becomes "cumbersome," and that the company has "no immediate plans to act on de-listing."


So it looks like if you happen to love playing crappy games then you are safe for now, as Microsoft is more than happy to continue taking your money. When it comes to sorting the wheat from the chaff, seems as though you’re going to have to continue doing it yourself. Word to the wise: you can be perfectly happy for a good long time with Castle Crashers, Braid and Geometry Wars. Beyond that you’re on your own.