Source : Internet

After a long journey, Microsoft has been finally decided to killing all of its iconic games including Hearts, Spades, Checkers and Backgammon and MSN Go. After almost 20 years of entertainment, windows users are no longer be able to play these games. They started shutting down these games from Windows XP and ME then Windows 7 .





M. Hamer posted that they were going to begin shutting down the Internet Games services for Windows ME and XP starting on July 31st, 2019. For Windows 7 users, it will be shut down on January 22, 2020, eight days after Windows 7 reaches end of support. “While we’re saddened to leave this chapter behind, we continue to be committed to delivering engaging, delightful gaming experiences. We hope you’ll come with us on this journey and join the community of any of the other Microsoft casual games,” Hamer added. From now on the company would focusing on Xbox Cloud or XCloud, Xbox streaming that would be debuting in October, CNET reported on Friday. In a post to the Microsoft forums , Microsoft Moderatorposted that they were going to begin shutting down the Internet Games services for Windows ME and XP starting on July 31st, 2019. For Windows 7 users, it will be shut down on January 22, 2020, eight days after Windows 7 reaches end of support. “While we’re saddened to leave this chapter behind, we continue to be committed to delivering engaging, delightful gaming experiences. We hope you’ll come with us on this journey and join the community of any of the other Microsoft casual games,” Hamer added.





Source : Internet

There are bound to be web-based equivalents to these games, so you might not be completely stuck if you're determined to play something on an older PC. Microsoft would no doubt prefer that you upgrade to a Windows 10 system and play something from its own app store, though. As it is, it's almost surprising that support didn't end earlier. Microsoft stopped regular maintenance of Windows XP and ME years ago -- Internet Games on those platforms were clearly living on borrowed time, and Windows 7 isn't far behind



Microsoft has been focused on developing and launching its xCloud Xbox streaming service , which will become available in October. The service will let you play on devices like phones and tablets, and will work with all 3,500 games in the Xbox One library as well as the 1,900 titles still in development.

The games affected by this shutdown are listed below:

Internet Backgammon (XP/ME, 7)

Internet Checkers (XP/ME, 7)

Internet Spades (XP/ME, 7)

Internet Hearts (XP/ME)

Internet Reversi (XP/ME)

MSN Go (7)