Microsoft has officially discontinued the HD-DVD Player Add-On following the formats death.  All six major studios are now Blu-Ray exclusive along with Netflix and Best Buy and Wal-Mart strongly supporting the format.  The HD-DVD drive will no longer be manufactured so those that are out in retail are it.  Be prepared to see it marked down quite a bit and I’m sure there are some people that will take advantage of this great format being at such a discounted price.

Being one that picked up this product when it held the $199.99 price tag it sucks to see all this happen but I will always have my add-on and my HD-DVD library which will grow a bit as retailers unload their stock at discounted prices.  Now it’s just a matter of time before we get info of a Blu-Ray add-on considering MS has said they would consider producing one given it won the format war which it has. 

Official statement after the jump.

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD.  Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.  As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace.  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.