There’s been a growing concern over Xbox completely shifting to digital gaming, with the success of Game Pass and leaks of a digital-only Series X console. Despite a huge shift to digital gaming, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that physical games will still be released.
Speaking with Game File (via VGC), Spencer assures that the company will still be making physical games, in addition to their digital counterparts. However, Spencer does point out that most Xbox players buy games digitally and they will “follow what the customers are doing.”
“We are supportive of physical media, but we don’t have a need to drive that disproportionate to customer demand,” Spencer said. “We ship games physically and digitally, and we’re just following what the customers are doing. And I think our job in running Xbox is to deliver the things that a majority of the customers want. And right now, a majority of our customers are buying games digitally.”
Concerns for physical Xbox games started when various gaming stores in Europe decided to stop stocking them, showing how unpopular physical media for the console has been. It also doesn’t help that Xbox is making some of their exclusive games digital-only, like the upcoming Hellblade 2. Even if the game eventually gets a physical release, the fact that it won’t be out on the same day as the digital release is depressing.
Xbox isn’t the only company doing this either, as Remedy Entertainment also made Alan Wake 2 a digital exclusive, despite the first game’s remaster getting a physical. Remedy defended the decision but many fans were unhappy with the decision, even if the sequel ended up being pretty great.
Video game preservation continues to be more and more difficult as time goes on, with physical editions being the main way to save these forms of media. It doesn’t help that game companies are against emulation, with websites like CD Romance being forced to change policies so they don’t shut down.
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When was the last time you bought a physical Xbox Series game? Based on these reports, it might be time to do that more regularly.