I really wanted to give this game another go earlier today.  I previously owned the disc version on the original Xbox, and purchased the Xbox Originals version when it became available on the 360.  Due to disc space issues on my HDD I deleted the game (keeping my saves) so that I could re-download it when I fancied a game.  Now I can't find it on Marketplace.  Is it just me or has it been removed?  If so when and why?

This is a worrying development. As long as it's still being sold they have to keep the online servers running.

What country are you in? If you downloaded it once it should appear in your download history and you can select from there to 'download again'. Then you will get it back even if it has been de-listed.

As far as buying new on the marketpace I just searched Burnout and only got Revenge and Paradise. I'm in the UK.

It does still show up in the US.

Spot the difference

US - http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/catalog.aspx?d=5&r=-1&g=-1&mt=0&ot=7&sb=0&rl=0&p=1

and GB - http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/games/catalog.aspx?d=5&r=-1&g=-1&mt=0&ot=7&sb=0&rl=0&p=1

The marketplace is different for every country but it seems strange to lose it in the UK considering Criterion are based in the UK.

Thanks! I had almost given up hope, then I found this post together with this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962228 And it worked great!

We just noticed that it's no longer available for new purchasers. The online servers are still running at the moment although EA could sunset the servers at any time. The last time I went online with this game there was nobody else playing.

The best way to keep the servers open is to make sure people are playing online regularly. It is difficult for me to set up games at the moment as I have a little baby so can't keep much of a schedule. But, I would love it if fans of the game set up regular play dates either here or on www.BurnoutAholics.com  Add the gamertag "BurnoutAholics" to your friends list to see what other Burnout fans are playing, and to be able to send messages to others who have this game.

Or feel free to send me a FR or message me a time when you want to play Burnout 3 online as it is my favourite online game and I would hate to see it sunsetted forever!

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I'm a BurnoutAholic and proud of it!

If we get a couple hundred a week playing the game may get back into the Major Nelson top 10 original xbox games played each week. Last time the ranks reset they went up to about 60-70 so that's how many played that week. Like Zombie says, if there are a few regular day/times people get online soon everyone will know and it will get busy.

This is the page to keep an eye on - http://games.ea.com/information.jsp This is where they announce the upcoming servers being shut down.

They added close dates from the past couple of years of Sept 07, Nov 07 and July 08 (81 closures in 10 months!)

Then a gap and 16 closures announced for Apriil 09. Nothing since then, so an update could appear imminenetly.

Or maybe the cost of keeping the servers up has become so minimal that they are covering costs easily by the continued sales of games more than 12 months old. I know for a fact people still buy B3 on the marketplace (where available) so why stop selling it? Especially since they have a suite of Burnout games on there.

That being said, I'd advise anyone wanting Burnout 3 NOT to buy it on the marketplace but to buy a second-hand physical copy off e-bay or from a local store.