Microsoft Kills Off HD DVD Support

But you can still buy the drive if you really want to, and it's dirt cheap.

After Toshiba confirmed it was pulling out of the HD DVD format it helped define, it was only a matter of time until Microsoft did likewise. That time arrived over the weekend.

In an announcement on Saturday, Microsoft said that it would stop selling its add-on HD DVD drive, adding that it would continue to support Xbox 360 owners who bought the drive.

The company reiterated its line that the death of HD DVD would not have "any material impact" its console.

"HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own," reads a statement confirming the decision to drop the add-on.

Microsoft had been one of the major backers of HD DVD, a rival format vying with Blu-ray to become the standard in next-generation DVD. According to estimates, the company sold around 130,000 units of the HD DVD drive.

Microsoft has over the past 16 months aggressively supported downloads of high-definition through its Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store, which made a belated debut in Europe in late 2007.

HD DVD and Blu-ray have been waging a very public fight to become the new standard for disc-based movies. Recent months have seen devastating blows to HD DVD, including the decision of major movie studios and retailers to back Blu-ray.

Even though the announcement only came this weekend, it would appear that the company had already started selling off existing stock of the player. On 15 February the price of the HD DVD drive was reduced from £115 to £75. Today Microsoft dropped the price further, to just £40.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo