Despite Phil Spencer claiming to care about preservation, Xbox is the worst of the 3 console manufacturers when it comes to preservation

[iamthemilkman]

The latest game that isn't on disc and requires a download is DOOM: The Dark Ages:

Neither the Xbox Series X or Playstation 5 version's on the disc.

This is yet another game in an increasingly long list of Xbox first-party titles and/or exclusives that aren't on disc, require online to function, and/or are online only:

- Halo Infinite (Not on disc, requires download)
- Starfield (Not on disc, requires download)
- Forza Horizon 5 (Not on disc, requires download, no physical presence at all on PS5)
- Redfall (While this game eventually received offline support, the version on disc is online only)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Not on disc, requires download on both XSX/PS5)
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl (Not on disc, requires download, hopefully the inevitable PS5 version will be playable from disc)
- Forza Motorsport 2023 (Not on disc, requires download, always online)
- Xbox Smart Delivery Games (The vast majority of these have the inferior Xbox One version on the disc and require the Series version to be downloaded)

Then there are games like South of Midnight and Hellblade II which didn't receive a physical release.

Currently, the only good physical Xbox Series/PS5 releases are those that are published through Limited Run Games such as Pentiment, Quake 1 and 2, the various Doom releases, and Grounded since they're actually on the disc.

 

[Ne0Griever]

No kidding, it is a business after all, let us be honest, none of the companies are particularly interested in preserving any kind of games.

This task will always fall upon "Us" the buyers/people who care, who see this hobby as something more than a "business"

We can't and we should never take this for granted, sites like this are a safe heaven for games but more importantly, for the hobbits.

Keep on keeping on

 

[ReverseTroll]

aaand i was going to get it,now im going to wait until it goes on sale. either on pc or consoles. heck them

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Not very surprised, TBH.

EA's president used to make similarly bold claims before murdering his own games left and right.

 

[moonbits]

the death of physical media is imminent, thanks gaben

 

[marky]

Well... that's how it's always been in some ways.
For years we couldn't wait for decent Xbox and Xbox 360 emulators.
Now we have xemu, which is still not perfect (90% of the library is playable) and Xenia, where probably not even half of the 360 games are playable.
Why? Because somehow you don't see the same community involvement as with Playstation's and Nintendo consoles emulators.

 

[UntoldLegend13]

Piracy is the only way to preserve this game, and they wonder why it's so widespread

 

[Leon]

There's literally no reason to buy microsoft's games on console anymore, it's better to buy their pc versions and crack them so that you can make backups.

 

[Skeetos]

I truly do believe that the 360/PS3 era was the last time that gaming was about gaming, and not the money it was making. I'm not all doom and gloom about it, but I do wish there could still be some focus on caring. Yeah, I know people are gonna tell me to buy indie games, but honestly outside of a select few it's kinda bad on that side too. I think it'll get better eventually, but not before it gets worse. I think this current generation has a lesson to be learned by these companies, and hopefully they realize that soon, if at all.