Xbox may be going through a very delicate moment in commercial terms. While Game Pass has revolutionized the video game industry and helped the Redmond giant leverage its market position, the first side effects of this service may have started to show.
According to rumors, Microsoft is interrupting the manufacture of physical media games in Europe and the reason is low sales.
It’s not new that big names in the video game industry talk about the harm of subscription services like Game Pass. Even though Sony has made changes to PlayStation Plus, the company has already confirmed that it does not intend to launch the service’s catalog, as this is not profitable enough and would end up affecting the quality of the games.
Recently, several data released by Microsoft showed that despite the growth of Game Pass, the sale of consoles and games had significant drops. Although company executives claim that game sales are still greater than the number of Game Pass subscribers, it seems that the situation is getting worrying.
On Instagram, the @loja_animejogos profile revealed that, according to some distributors, the main Xbox games will no longer be manufactured and distributed in Europe.
Future releases like Hogwarts Legacy and the remake of Resident Evil 4 will be the first not to appear on discs in the Europeian market.
The company Rimo was responsible for manufacturing the physical media for the Xbox, but ended its activities this year.
View this photo on InstagramA post shared by Anime Jogos (@loja_animejogos)
According to the profile, the reason for the closure of production was the low sales for Xbox, causing the entire market (shopkeepers and suppliers) to suffer losses. Many Xbox users prefer to consume games via the Gamepass service.
Interestingly, CD Projekt Red announced this week the release of physical media for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition in Europe and unlike other countries, the launch will be exclusive to the PS5 here, which can give even more truth to the rumour.
In related news, there are rumors that Microsoft has decided not to attend E3 this year to cut costs, which could be another warning sign about the company’s situation, even more after it recently laid off 10,000 employees.
Do you still buy physical media?
