Walmart appears to be purging Xbox games starting next week.
Xbox gives Gamer Social Club an exclusive statement regarding their policy on “minimum print“ limits for Xbox physical games
XB may no longer impose a minimum print order... but that doesnt mean the publisher / distributor cant. Given the choice of platforms that a physical game could sell through on, XB has to be somewhere at the bottom. Im not saying all XB owners no longer buy physical, but if the game is out for GP, chances are it gets played there by users who choose to just play instead of buy. And if they do like it enough to buy, they may still buy it on another platform where physical releases are much more prominent. Most likely switch and PS.
Xbox isn’t somewhere at the bottom it’s at the bottom. GamePass has killed physical sales on Xbox which is very unfortunate.
To be fair, even before Game Pass became a thing, buying physical games on Xbox was already kind of pointless. Most of the discs were basically just glorified activation keys, either containing none of the actual game data or just a tiny fraction of it. You still had to download almost everything anyway.
D) Microsoft is lying to you.
E) They don't have an official policy, they just deny requests on other grounds for predicted small sellers.
And who even cares? Xbox accounts for single digit percents physical of sales even in the best of cases. Heck, their total sales across all formats often is single digit.
There can't be any significant amount of indie developers even looking to publish physically across all devices in 2025 much less Xbox. Even things like Limited Run Games almost universally has skipped Xbow citing lack of sales potential.
There is zero you or Microsoft can say that will convince me that their goal for the future isn't completely devoid of physical and ownership.
IMO: Taking Microsoft at the face value of their words seems like a huge mistake, they are going to tell you whatever they want the public to hear regardless of the truth.
i absolutely believe the indie devs, they have more to lose than bigger ones. so why would they even lie.
theres a reason why most games on xbox are digital only.
GL: "Staff writer Shaz reflects on his small library of physical games he's kept throughout the decades, and how a recent move made him nostalgic."
I lost my drive for collecting physical games due to many discs lacking the whole complete game. Instead, of collecting games I started collected figurines.
I am a collector have a room dedicated with a couple original arcade cabinets, physical game library, old and new consoles and controllers backlit with LED lighting. It’s very cool to have but with emulation being so strong and prevalent, I sometimes feel foolish because the hobby is expensive and like another said, the full game is not always on the disc. Could probably spend more wisely but I enjoy it.
Most games are usually on disc still. Of course you got you publishers that are hit and miss, Activision, ubisoft, ea, Microsoft, where the rest of the game needs downloaded.
While we were so hoping to not have to update owners of the console physical Deluxe Edition with any further news of delay, we’ve now run into more production issues which means that players who pre-ordered their PS5 North America copy that was expected to ship later this month, will now have to wait until July before they can get their hands on them.
Got that email like 2 weeks ago. Tbh I'm not tripping. I understand sht happens. I'm just glad they changed their minds on the physical release
I with you. I got the email is well. Happy to eventually own a physical copy and glad it’s not digital only.
Yeah once digital age starts I'm reading the new fire and ice novels. Physical > Digital.
If your a regular Walmart shopper, which I am. I got one like 4 blocks from my house and as far as department stores it's all that's around. Like 4 of them. Anyway if you are you'll have noticed Walmart physical game selection has been kinda trash for years so it's no surprise they are getting rid of physical games. They've been heading down this road for years. I only buy physical games from there on clearance due to the selection being trash. I picked up Scarlett nexus I think for ps5 for 5 dollars clearance. A while ago.
Said it before buying physical games is best to do online, you have access to way more plus you can import which is nice since alot of these jackass American companies don't think Americans want physical anymore(this is based off like squareenix American division etc)
So I guess I'll be looking to see if they got anything good on clearance. Last game I bought new there was forbidden west and that's cause the ps5 and ps4 version were the same price 59.99 instead of ps5 being 69.99. Whether it was an error or not it saved me 10
Buying Xbox games? Game Pass...
“Walmart to start removing physical Xbox games in store starting with Starfield.“
“the supplier is funding this action“
Interesting.
You will own nothing.