Microsoft to support Xbox 360 for three more years

Just because the Xbox One is Microsoft's focus going forward does not mean the company is abandoning the Xbox 360 anytime soon. Microsoft chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi said this week that the platform will be supported through at least 2016.

"If you look at [Xbox 360], that platform lasted for seven to eight years and it's going to go for another three years," Mehdi said this week during the Citi Global Technology Conference. "It's incredibly profitable now in the tail."

Mehdi explained that the arrival of the Xbox One is not a death knell for the Xbox 360 by any stretch, noting that Microsoft plans to ship over 100 new games for the system.

"We are going to continue to invest in Xbox 360 and the two devices can work in concert. So it isn't like the day we ship the Xbox One your [Xbox 360] won't work," Mehdi said. "We will continue to support it. In fact, we're going to ship over one hundred new games on Xbox 360. So you'll be able to still play your games, just not on the same exact box."

The Xbox One launches in 13 territories across the world on November 22. Microsoft previously described the system's $500 price point as a "very good deal."