Since his arrival at the top of Xbox, Phil Spencer has continued to offer gamers a choice. Freedom is more than just a speech, freedom has become the hallmark of the company, allowing users to consume video games at will. Buy your games physically or digitally, play them on console, PC or via cloud gaming or even switch to the new generation or not: Xbox promises an open ecosystem, almost without restrictions. But will the manufacturer hold this position for a long time?
Let the players choose
The announcement made a lot of noise, but it was perfectly aimed at the users. In 2020, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, announced that Xbox Game Studios games would be shared on Xbox Series X for up to 24 months after the next-gen consoles were released | S and One would appear. A decision incomprehensible for a large part of the media, which nevertheless fits perfectly into the logic of the manufacturer.
The idea? Don’t force players to switch their hardware if they don’t want to and ensure a smooth end to the life of the Xbox One. Better still, with Smart Delivery, Xbox guarantees viewers to purchase a single copy of the game that is on both Xbox Series X | S as well as on the One can be used. A pro-consumer approach that perfectly illustrates the strategy of the console gamer who is now focused on the gamer.
An attractive philosophy that has allowed Xbox to improve its brand image. And at the same time to find an echo with many gamers, including your humble servant. At a time when everything is pointing to the digital format as the future of video games, I can calm myself down to hear that the physical still has a future and that Microsoft is aware of it. However, for the last few months it has been clear that some examples have sowed doubts.
Broken promises?
Will we always have a choice between physical and digital when playing Xbox Game Studios games on this generation of consoles? I asked myself this question for the first time in August 2020. Fighting toads arrived on our consoles, day one on Xbox Game Pass and never in store.
The title Rare, developed by Dlala Studios, actually had no physical release and was limited to the Xbox Store. A surprise for a title published exclusively by Xbox in its ecosystem, especially as the title benefited from a relatively large prominence during the brand’s events. Certainly the ambition of Fighting toads is not that of an AAA, but this lack of rays first broke Phil Spencer’s promise.
An isolated case for a while, but it was copied this year. Last August, Psychonauts 2 also arrived on our consoles and pc by ignoring the physical box. And if crowdfunding-related restrictions of 2016 were an advanced point in time to explain the lack of physical spending, this has since been denied. Once again, and for no apparent reason, one of the best games of the year signed by Xbox Game Studios was nowhere to be found in the boxed version.
Forza Horizon 5 and Flight simulation : limited options?
In two cases this is no longer an exception. But most of all, other Xbox decisions leave me at a loss. I am thinking in particular of the FNAC exclusivity for the box version of Flight simulation, as well as the lack of a premium edition on this medium. So if the production was available in physics, it was only available in a single store and in a single version. The deluxe and premium deluxe editions are de facto exclusively in the Microsoft Store and therefore only accessible digitally.
A pattern that is repeated today with Forza Horizon 5. In fact, only the standard version will hit store shelves on November 9th, with the deluxe and premium editions remaining exclusively digital. A choice is certainly always possible, always available, but necessarily limited. If I want to use all of the content that Forza Horizon 5, I have no other solution than to go to the Microsoft Store.
A future without a box?
So of course I’m not naive: the physical weighs less than the digital and the gap will widen over the years. Obviously, this is the sense of history that has been made since Xbox Live Arcade was launched more than 10 years ago. But I regret that here, too, the promises only seem to bind those who believe in them.
Halo infinite will be the next big release for Xbox. I will of course be very attentive to the offers that will be available for publication. It’s a surefire thing, however, that collectors and physical buyers are worse off than their counterparts who went all-digital. Let’s hope, however, that a legendary edition sees the light of day!
The lack of physical editing isn’t going to stop the games from being good, it isn’t going to stop me from playing them and having a lot of fun. But that prevents me from lending them to my father or nephew. A regrettable “choice” in my opinion. One freedom less is never trivial.
The position taken here is not representative of that of the editorial team. It concerns its author and only him. Share it or not, the point is to constructively exchange it. Our comments are open to you in this regard, as is our Twitter account: @XboxSquadFr
Previous editorial teams of editorial members:
Table of Contents
