[Eurogamer] Microsoft currently isn’t offering physical pre-orders of Gears of War: Reloaded on Xbox, just PS5

Topher

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Only those on PlayStation can own a physical copy of the game, at least for now.


We're still processing the fact that we can play Forza Horizon 5 on PS5, but the floodgates are well and truly open for Xbox franchises going multiplatform.

Outer Worlds 2 is coming to Sony's system later in the year, but before then, there's the small matter of Gears of War making its debut on PS5 via the Reloaded edition of the first game.

Revealed last month, the game promises audio and visual improvements, no loading times, and HDR support among other things, but there's one thing it can't do: be found as a physical copy on Xbox.

Despite assurances that the company still has plans for physical media last year, if you want a physical copy of Gears of War Reloaded, you'll need to be a PS5 owner.

While the revamped version of Gears of War is available for £39.99/$39.99 on Amazon right now, Xbox players will have no choice but to buy it digitally if they want to own it (at the time of publication, as this could be subject to change), although there is some comfort.

Not only will the game also be on Xbox Game Pass at launch on 26th August (as well as its PC counterpart), but if you already own the Gears of War Ultimate Edition from back in 2015, you'll get the new version for free.

Gears of War: Reloaded is also getting a cross-platform multiplayer beta, giving players a chance to dive into some classic curb-stomping action ahead of launch.

The first beta kicks off on 13th June and runs through to the 15th, focusing on Team Deathmatch across a trio of returning maps: Gridlock, Raven Down and Gold Rush. A second round follows the week after, running from 20th to 22nd June. Both weekends begin at 12pm PST.

There are three ways to secure access to the beta:

-Pre-order the digital version of Gears of War: Reloaded on Xbox Series X/S, PC (Microsoft Store or Steam), or PS5
-Be a current Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscriber
-Own a digital copy of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition purchased before 5th May



Previously posted as a rumor, now confirmed
 
While the revamped version of Gears of War is available for £39.99/$39.99
40.00 British Pounds =

54.401029 US Dollars
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Does Sony take the same cut on physical media like they do on their digital store? Or is this a way for Microsoft to kinda bypass it? Still a bit poopy for any people who prefer physical media on Xbox.
 
Does Sony take the same cut on physical media like they do on their digital store? Or is this a way for Microsoft to kinda bypass it? Still a bit poopy for any people who prefer physical media on Xbox.
They make more digital. I dont know if Sony's cut is the same at retail but I bet it is. Then the retailers also take a small cut. And cost of supplies.
 
Can you even buy an Xbox with a disc drive?

Xbox game displays in shops seem to be disappearing, so this doesn't surprise me one bit.

As someone who recalls the excitement when me and my friend went to GAME to grab our pre order copies of Halo 2 in 2004 this is just sad.

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Can you even buy an Xbox with a disc drive?

Xbox game displays in shops seem to be disappearing, so this doesn't surprise me one bit.

As someone who recalls the excitement when me and my friend went to GAME to grab our pre order copies of Halo 2 in 2004 this is just sad.
Your stores may vary but the Xbox section at this one Target near me has been completely nuked and wiped out. Best Buy only has old Series X games and GameStop is just as useless. You can't sell games if you don't put them in stores. This is 90's Sega quality fuckery.

 
Ditto. Pretty much sums up my feelings on Xbox. They used to be my favorite platform.
I wouldn't say they were my favorite platform but they used to have a solid lineup starting with OG. They really dropped the ball on the 2nd half of 360 lifespan with Kinect focus and doubled down with that shit with XBone. And then Phil just kept digging deeper.

At least BC on XSX is pretty great. I really wish MS didn't dump that program.
 
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Do people really still care about this? What is the point of purchasing a physical copy at this point? It's unlikely the game will actually run off the disk, as day 1 patches are so common.
 
Do people really still care about this? What is the point of purchasing a physical copy at this point? It's unlikely the game will actually run off the disk, as day 1 patches are so common.

There's still publishers (mostly Japanese) that release games that are playable without patches

Let's tackle this issue instead of just doing away with physical.
 
Do people really still care about this? What is the point of purchasing a physical copy at this point? It's unlikely the game will actually run off the disk, as day 1 patches are so common.

If that's the case they should do digital only for PS5 as well.
Is kind of ridiculous that one of the big IP for Microsoft does this affecting their own players of their console... I literally have all gow games on physical. For me that's why I'm really disappointed with this decision.


Saying this, yes you are right about nowadays the games don't run off the disc......I'm not against digital, I'm against the lack of options, there should be always options for players.
 
This is some bad optics. They should have held till next gen, at least for their exclusives, for physical releases, before pulling the plug.
 
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MS just can't help themselves to pull the plug on physical releases before the end of this generation. First they stopped manufacturing Series X models with the drive and now they're no longer releasing first party Xbox games on disc.

The only reason why they do it on PS5 is because physical still has some market share on that platform. But they still do only the bare minimum needed for a retail release and you'll have to download pretty much the entire game.
 
The PS5 disc versions from Microsoft are pointless because they never contain the whole game, they just trigger a download.

At some point the download servers will be turned off and the disc will be unusable.
 
Looks like this time around, MS will be putting the game on the disc, so I'll probably grab it sooner rather than later.

We have consulted Xbox Spain about this physical edition and they have confirmed that Gears of War: Reloaded will have a full physical edition (with the game on the disc) only for PlayStation 5. The Xbox Series and PC versions remain without physical editions, although Xbox states that the game "will be offered through the Digital Code program at participating retailers".

 
Wait and see if it's physical and not 85MB on disc.
Anyway Sony wants digital too, we got a Disc Drive sold separately this gen, but consumers still buying physical so they keep delaying maybe what is inevitable.

As for Microsoft/Xbox is so confusing. Take P4R trailer for example the platforms appear as: Xbox Series S/X | Xbox PC | Xbox Cloud | Game Pass | Windows and even a Xbox Play Anywhere tag.
An average consumer is supposed to understand all this?!
 
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