European Retailers Reportedly No Longer Stocking Xbox Physical Games

Video games have typically come in physical format alongside their digital counterparts. However, we have started to see more titles released that are dedicated to digital only. That has frustrated players who collect titles or want to own their games physically. You can find quite a few players that point towards the possibility of losing said games if they are digital only for a variety of reasons. Now, a new report online has suggested that Xbox might have limited to no stock at all for its physical games in Europe. 

Thanks to VGC, we’re finding out that a new report regarding Microsoft’s lack of physical games in Europe comes from Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring. During their Microcast, the industry reporter noted that they had spoken to a major publishing boss before Christmas. Apparently, this individual noted to Christopher that European retailers have started not taking in more Xbox video games to stock. The reasoning is that there is more influence for players to purchase these games digitally, or if they are first-party Microsoft titles, there’s likely more interest in enjoying these games through the Game Pass subscription service.

As a result of low performance in terms of physical sales, retailers are just not accepting these games any longer. Of course, this does come after reports surfaced online that Microsoft had taken down their departments that are dedicated to bringing Xbox games into physical retail. Now, that could mean Microsoft is outsourcing this department to another company, but you might recall the leaked mid-generation refresh plans that came out last year. 

During the battle to acquire Activision Blizzard, some plans were leaked out from Microsoft. That included a new Xbox Series X console release that didn’t feature a physical disc drive. This new console might be a push to eliminate physical games altogether from Microsoft and instead put more focus on players using their digital libraries or Microsoft’s Game Pass service. But since that leak came out, Phil Spencer has noted that these leaked documents might not accurately reflect the current decisions at Microsoft. 

So it’s still a waiting game to see what Microsoft ends up doing. We don’t know if this new generation refresh of the Xbox Series X is coming. Likewise, it will be interesting to see if, if it does release, Microsoft will continue to bring out the original Xbox Series X with the disc drive for those who continue to seek out physical game purchases.