Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I feel like this needs its own separate thread, considering the implications of one of, if not the biggest retailer chain in North America, planning to drop physical games for one of the platform holders altogether.









Really sad for my fellow Xbox bros & gals who are still into buying and collecting physical games on their platform of choice.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Gives more credibility to the leaks saying MS would be shifting even XSX to a digital only format… (see FTC leaks).

 

[Codes 208]

Accurate. The walmart i work at barely gets updated with the newer 3rd party xbox releases while we continue to get a ton of ps and nintendo games (obviously this doesnt speak for all walmarts but most of the ones in my area have converted at least one of their two xbox cases into accessories, whereas sony and nintendo generally have two or three cases worth

 

[baphomet]

Just go into any local game store. Not only will there be almost no physical new Xbox games, there's also no used games due to no one having purchased physical to begin with.

 

[Little Chicken]

While this doesn't bother me in the slightest, it'd be nice to see people being able to pre-order and order physical copies via MS or the publisher in the future, in a similar way you can design, customise and order controllers from MS.

Xbox has allowed people to order consoles and hardware directly from the xbox and xbox store for years so I feel like this is the direction they will transition into over the next decade.

 

[nordique]

as someone who lives in north America where xbox has mindshare, It blows my mind

360 was such a massive hit here. Amazing how things have changed. I’m surprised though as I feel like I know more people with series X/S than xb1.

Mind you, they ALL have gamepass.

 

[bender]

Series S is the best selling Series console and doesn't have a disc drive combined with the Game Pass effect so this is hardly surprising.

 

[ArtHands]

Next will be Sony followed by Nintendo.

The march to full digital continues whether you like it or not

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Next will be Sony followed by Nintendo.

The march to full digital continues whether you like it or not

It's not happening with Sony and Nintendo because their consoles exist outside the US. In the rest of the world, most gamers still buy physical

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Next will be Sony followed by Nintendo.

The march to full digital continues whether you like it or not

Like the above poster said, physical PlayStation and Nintendo games are still big, both here in Europe and in Japan. Not sure what's up with the NA market though.

 

[ArtHands]

It's not happening with Sony and Nintendo because their consoles exist outside the US. In the rest of the world, most gamers still buy physical

Highly doubt so, considering the rest of the world has adapted very well with full digital on PC, mobile and video streaming.

 

[acm2000]

here comes the all digital future, xbox is already there since you can buy cd keys for most releases mean while sony is lagging behind on that front.

90% of gamers wont care, but the vocal minority are gonna lose their shit.

 

[StealthGoblin]

here comes the all digital future, xbox is already there since you can buy cd keys for most releases mean while sony is lagging behind on that front.

90% of gamers wont care, but the vocal minority are gonna lose their shit.

Sorry to tell you bud, but outside of the US, physical is a big deal. That this is only happening for Xbox tells us more about the health of Xbox than anything else.

And before people say Xbox outsells PlayStation digitally - nope. Due to Sony's larger install base they take them to town on that too.

 

[RoboFu]

Sorry to tell you bud, but outside of the US, physical is a big deal. That this is only happening for Xbox tells us more about the health of Xbox than anything else.

And before people say Xbox outsells PlayStation digitally - nope. Due to Sony's larger install base they take them to town on that too.

That looks like you are wrong. 72% digital global console games in 2022.

GamesIndustry.biz presents… The Year In Numbers 2022

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[acm2000]

Sorry to tell you bud, but outside of the US, physical is a big deal. That this is only happening for Xbox tells us more about the health of Xbox than anything else.

And before people say Xbox outsells PlayStation digitally - nope. Due to Sony's larger install base they take them to town on that too.

im in the UK and i dont know anyone whos got a physical game, outside of switch, for years.

 

[Elder Legend]

As I predicated. Been digital since 2019 on all my systems. But people tend to forget that PCs started the digital trend since 2004 with Steam launch. Lol.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

I haven't bought a physical copy of a game for XBox since Halo 5. I am all digital now on XBox and PC. I buy physical copies of games on Switch because my son uses it and to be honest I hate how Nintendo's e-Shop is setup. They still don't really get online after all this time.

 

[Zathalus]

In the Netherlands at the moment, most of the console gamers at my work have a PS5 and buy it digitally.

Anecdotal I know, but it's a group of several hundred.

 

[Warnen]

Discs can

 

[Gaelyon]

"First they came for the Socialists, X-Box games and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist. X-Box gamer
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, Nintendo games and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Nintendo gamer
Then they came for the Jews, Sony games and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew. Sony gamer
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me"

/s

Spoiler

From Martin Niemöller famous citation. Just for fun, no offense intended

 

[KungFucius]

Just go into any local game store. Not only will there be almost no physical new Xbox games, there's also no used games due to no one having purchased physical to begin with.

Which is a consequence of Gamepass first and second of having the cheaper, digital version of the platform selling more than the only one people could choose to buy games on.

 

[Flutta]

Discs can

Yeah to hell with owning stuff. Let us be sheep and be controlled by corpos instead. Yaaaay!!!

 

[Mownoc]

The last physical game I purchased was Spyro Trilogy in 2018 afaik. Nintendo games are the only ones I'd sooner seek physical as they hold their value. Generally I prefer to rent games on subscription services as I almost never play a game more than once these days. By the time I feel like replaying a title it's either almost worthless and can be picked up digitally for under £5 or I'm emulating it.

That being said I recognise that the world as a whole is still not ready for physical to end. Whichever console completely drops physical first will get some really bad PR.

 

[Warnen]

Yeah to hell with owning stuff. Let us be sheep and be controlled by corpos instead. Yaaaay!!!

might have had a point when games didn’t ship busted or with mandatory day one updates.

these last 2 gens physical media became obsolete

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

might have had a point when games didn’t ship busted or with mandatory day one updates.

these last 2 gens physical media became obsolete

Perhaps with the cross-gen Xbox games as they ship the Xbox One code on the disc most often than not, but that's not the case at all for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch physical games.

 

[RavenSan]

On the one hand, it's disappointing. I love collecting physicals media of the stuff I love (Blu Rays & Vinyls, at least) -- however if I'm being honest, since I started doing the whole swap home xbox deal, I've only been buying digital since I only buy half the games (brother buys the other half) -- so I suppose I'm part of the problem, too.

 

[rofif]

There are items that say way less than physical games and these stores are full of them.
So I dont get it

 

[yazenov]

Next, they will stop selling the Xbox hardware as well. Better stock items that sell well such as the PS5 and Switch along with their physical software.

 

[StereoVsn]

as someone who lives in north America where xbox has mindshare, It blows my mind

360 was such a massive hit here. Amazing how things have changed. I’m surprised though as I feel like I know more people with series X/S than xb1.

Mind you, they ALL have gamepass.

I think that’s the large part of the reason for Walmart decision. Xbox physical game sales seem to be minuscule. That’s in large due to GamePass and such.

What I will be interesting to see if Walmart will still have online sale for Xbox games.

 

[StealthGoblin]

im in the UK and i dont know anyone whos got a physical game, outside of switch, for years.

Anecdotal. Physical sales charts speak otherwise. It's still a significant section of the market and dumb to abandon. It's the majority in Japan.

I've no dog in this fight as I buy both digital and physical.

But it is dumb as fuck to cut off that physical market.

 

[Tommi84]

No-one buys disc gsmes for xsx confirmed. Not onoy that, most xbox consoles doesnt even have disc (75% xss and 25% xsx).

Not surprised

 

[StealthGoblin]

No-one buys disc gsmes for xsx confirmed. Not onoy that, most xbox consoles doesnt even have disc (75% xss and 25% xsx).

Not surprised

Indeed.

Sony having that optional disc drive is looking more and more like a shrewd move.

They'll stay very relevant in more markets all while aggressively expanding cloud.

 

[yazenov]

Not having a retail presence for MS is a huge blow to their mindshare.

Imagine casual customers walking into retail and seeing a huge section of games available for the PS5 and Nintendo, as opposed to none for the Xbox. Yeah, I wonder which consoles are they likely to buy. This will no doubt affect MS's hardware and software sales. It's a downward spiral to irrelevance.

 

[StealthGoblin]

That looks like you are wrong. 72% digital global console games in 2022.

GamesIndustry.biz presents… The Year In Numbers 2022

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

www.gamesindustry.biz

The US skews that data massively. But hey, if Xbox wanna cut off 30% of gamers worldwide (with even larger shares in non US countries) then more fool them.

Why is the current gen market leader not dropping physical media?

...because it's a very narrow minded idea to do so. It tells us that Microsoft was and still is US-centric. It's a huge reason why they've never done well in Japan or Europe.

 

[Unknown?]

Next will be Sony followed by Nintendo.

The march to full digital continues whether you like it or not

You will own nothing and be happy! You will eat ze bugs!

 

[ulantan]

Perhaps with the cross-gen Xbox games as they ship the Xbox One code on the disc most often than not, but that's not the case at all for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch physical games.

That shit was always a myth

 

[bitbydeath]

Not having a retail presence for MS is a huge blow to their mindshare.

Imagine casual customers walking into retail and seeing a huge section of games available for the PS5 and Nintendo, as opposed to none for the Xbox. Yeah, I wonder which consoles are they likely to buy. This will no doubt affect MS's hardware and software sales. It's a downward spiral to irrelevance.

Agreed. They already decided their next console would take no discs and be always online so this move will help them test the waters.

 

[CherryFalls]

 

[Buggy Loop]

GameStop being like

 

[Unknown?]

Not having a retail presence for MS is a huge blow to their mindshare.

Imagine casual customers walking into retail and seeing a huge section of games available for the PS5 and Nintendo, as opposed to none for the Xbox. Yeah, I wonder which consoles are they likely to buy. This will no doubt affect MS's hardware and software sales. It's a downward spiral to irrelevance.

Yeah, still plenty of casuals that go to Walmart for groceries/home items that will wander to electronics to browse. With no Xbox games there, they'll lose mind share, and potentially give the impression that they're not making games anymore which will be even worse.

Not to mention how detrimental no physical is in poorer countries.

 

[acm2000]

Anecdotal. Physical sales charts speak otherwise. It's still a significant section of the market and dumb to abandon. It's the majority in Japan.

I've no dog in this fight as I buy both digital and physical.

But it is dumb as fuck to cut off that physical market.

physical market still exists for digital, you just buy a nice little giftcard with a code on it

 

[Deerock71]

Next will be Sony followed by Nintendo.

The march to full digital continues whether you like it or not

I don't have to spend money on something I don't own, either. They're painting themselves into a corner, and it's making the decision for lots of us easier.

 

[graywolf323]

as someone who lives in north America where xbox has mindshare, It blows my mind

360 was such a massive hit here. Amazing how things have changed. I’m surprised though as I feel like I know more people with series X/S than xb1.

Mind you, they ALL have gamepass.

I mean I think that’s the point, Xbox has trained it’s user base to not buy games & instead they wait for things to come to GamePass

 

[Tommi84]

He was sooooo ahead of his time!!

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Microsoft is buying Walmart confirmed.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[EDMIX]

It's not happening with Sony and Nintendo because their consoles exist outside the US. In the rest of the world, most gamers still buy physical

Agreed.

Its why that Yakuza game is getting a physical release in Japan and all of us out here getting that Play Asia import lol

Baldur's Gate 3 I believe is getting a Japanese release, I might buy it to practice my Japanese, but Yakuza has served me well over the years, but maybe a deeper challenge is needed.

 

[Moriarty1889]

If MS are smart they will have an optional disc drive like Sony gives for the newer model PS5. Phil has always talked of game preservation and backwards compatibility as one of their biggest positives. Taking away physical will ruin that for many owners who have built their existing libraries with physical games. Also, some of those games only work with the disc in the drive to launch the BC version. Therefore MS going all digital makes no sense and after being called out with the leaks Phil was quick to say things have changed. Yes they have and he knows they need to at the very minimum do what Sony is doing. Not having physical games in stores would destroy mindshare and lower their numbers even more sales wise. They can’t afford to do any worse than they already are.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Sucks for people who buy physical (either by preference or necessity) but for me personally I haven't bought a physical Xbox game since the 360 so it won't have an impact on me, at least not directly

 

[Spyxos]