In Europe, several retailers are removing Xbox video games from their shelves. The beginning of the end for fans of physical releases?

Gaming News In Europe, several retailers are removing Xbox video games from their shelves. The beginning of the end for fans of physical releases?

The bad news for body advocates remains. According to the latest information from GamesIndustry.biz, several European retailers will soon stop offering games in physical form. This decision would have started at certain stores even before the end of the holidays, which would have stopped listing Xbox games. “ They have just started to stop stocking Xbox games because it is such a digital console that the physical performance of the games is really low

» suggests Christopher Dring in one Podcast available on GamesIndustry.biz.

An observation that could also have been made if one looked at the share of physical and digital gaming markets. In 2023, boxes totaled $9.5 billion (down 3.8% compared to 2022), compared to $174.5 billion for digital boxes (up 0.8%), again according to data from GamesIndustry.biz. So it’s a huge balance of power dematerialized, which accounts for 95% of the video game market for all media combined. Some major current software programs are only released on the Internet, such as Alan Wake 2 (October 27, 2023) or Hellblade 2 (scheduled for May 21, 2024).

See Xbox Series X on Amazon

Microsoft towards everything digital?

A measure that could also be a reaction to rumors that Microsoft is focusing on everything digital. « Microsoft has closed the divisions that deal with the physical distribution of Xbox games. If you have seen the leaks about the future digital-only Xbox console, you can get an idea of ​​​​the direction that the American company is taking

» Jez Corden, editor in chief of Windows Central, revealed on his Account X (ex Twitter). « There are some AAA games that have over 80% digital share on Xbox these days, so that’s not very surprising. It’s certainly an indicator of what the next generation will look like » replied Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research and Analysis at Niko Partners.

Another blow after the announcement of the game stores

This hard blow is therefore in addition to that suffered by GAME, the largest British video game retailer. As a matter of fact, It announced that it would discontinue its physical game exchange service starting February 16

. As a reminder, this system allowed customers to exchange their games for credit or gift cards. With over 300 stores across the UK, The company has long been known for its used car service.