Will Xbox games disappear from physical stores soon?

The debate about physical and digital ownership has been going on for quite some time, as has the concept of ownership. Is a digital copy of a game really owned? Is the physical copy of the game owned? It is still true that we have a CD in our hands, where the game files are located, but even these games rely on servers that the developer can shut down at any time, which we have experienced in the past. 

We totally understand the appeal of physical copies of games, as we ourselves grew up in an era when that was the only format we knew. There is also no better sight than when you look in the closet or on the shelves and see all the games you have ever bought and played. Of course, you then touch your wallet and shed a tear for all the wasted money, but you tell yourself that it was worth every cent.

Physical games, however, could disappear very soon, at least for Xbox consoles. 

During a conversation between GamesIndustry.biz CEO James Batchelor and GamesIndustry.biz CEO Chris Dring on the January 30 Games Industry Microcast, Dring was asked what he thought of Microsoft's latest wave of layoffs. čanj. Among the nearly 2,000 workers the company has laid off are people responsible for distributing Xbox games in physical retail. Dring gave his opinion on this dilemma and stated that “moreč retailers" simply don't sell anymoreč plate for Xbox.

"Just before Christmas, a large publisher told me that in Europe there are more retailers stopped selling physical Xbox games," said Dring. "They just stopped selling Xbox games so easily because Xbox is now mostly a digital console that the physical sales of Xbox games are very low and in the end when you sell a console that most people just port but games, this does not bring much benefit to the retailer. The margin on hardware is often very small.”

"I could not confirm that," continued Dring. “I couldn't find out who these retailers were, but one of the famous European publishing bosses told me. That's why I take him at his word: Xbox (Microsoft) is moving away from physical sales."

Do Sony and PlayStation games suffer the same fate? Sony's games seem better for now. The Spiderman franchise has seen most of its sales at retail, which means that Sony will stick with physical copies of the games, at least for now.