Series S/X Xbox: Physical game sales barely exist anymore

[Dany28]

Xbox faces further decline in the UK physical games market. Forecasts predict Xbox disc sales will only account for a fraction of the total market this year. The importance of physical game sales has been steadily declining for years. This trend is particularly evident for Xbox. A significant decline was already observed in recent years and the situation is becoming even more acute this year.

Xbox market share forecasts​

According to recent figures from industry analyst Dorian Bloch of NielsenIQ/GfK Entertainment, published by Gamesindustry.biz said: Xbox consoles' market share of physical game sales in the UK is expected to be just six percent this year. By comparison Nintendo is expected to have a share of around 52 percent and Sony around 42 percent. In 2022 Microsoft achieved a market share of eleven percent in this area. The projected decline thus reflects a continuing trend that has been evident in recent years.

The console share of physical game sales at a glance:

2022​

• PlayStation: 40 percent
• Nintendo: 48 percent
• Xbox: 11 percent

2025 forecast​

• PlayStation: 42 percent
• Nintendo: 52 percent
• Xbox: 6 percent

The Xbox Game Pass is primarily responsible for this. The subscription is purely digital which impacts the distribution of physical games. Members are facing further prices again.

Hardware share also under pressure​

Microsoft is losing market share not only in games but also in the hardware segment. Bloch estimates that Xbox consoles will only account for around 13 percent of the UK market this year that's a down from 31 percent in 2022. Microsoft has already reacted and made a strategic change: The Redmond-based company is no longer only serves its own consoles but has declared pretty much every gaming-capable device to be an Xbox: The change can also be felt worldwide: The US retailer Costco confirmed that it will no longer carry Xbox products in its product range including consoles, games and accessories.

While Xbox consoles appear to be on the decline Microsoft intends to stick with them. New hardware has long been in the works. Over the course of the year the Redmond-based company announced a collaboration with AMD. This collaboration will result in consoles, but not only: The next piece of hardware is already on the horizon a albeit not a homegrown one: The ROG Xbox Ally (X) handheld will be launched in October. Its success or failure will likely influence the Redmond-based company's future strategy.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 9:46 PM

I have to honestly say I hate how everything is developing and all this digital shit!!

 

[qw90700]

Basically no need to buy physical games anymore when they don't contain the actual or complete game, they get tons of patches making you download significant aspect of the game anyway so if there is something to blame it's their genius plan to reduce their physical game sales by making the cost of it go to waste lol.

 

[Tonberry]

I had a thought earlier this week.
Why don't manufacturers switch to jewel cases again? They're smaller so you can ship more of them for the same amount of effort, we don't have manuals anymore so the size isn't an issue there, and most importantly, they're sexy as FUCK.
It's a win-win!

 

[revck]

Basically no need to buy physical games anymore when they don't contain the actual or complete game, they get tons of patches making you download significant aspect of the game anyway so if there is something to blame it's their genius plan to reduce their physical game sales by making the cost of it go to waste lol.

"When they don't contain the actual game"


Agree sales for XBOX are drastically down, however it's true that XBOX has been leaving the scene for quite some time, do we have news of anything after Series S/X?
I don't think though that it is comparable to the other consoles, and also it's not true that it can be generalised to physical media is disappeared.
Of course it's in decline, however I'd 600x times go to gamestop or whatever and get 9 obscure games rather than get a 90$ digital one, or even a 20$ digital one, if I had the possibility to choose.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 10:03 PM

I had a thought earlier this week.
Why don't manufacturers switch to jewel cases again? They're smaller so you can ship more of them for the same amount of effort, we don't have manuals anymore so the size isn't an issue there, and most importantly, they're sexy as FUCK.
It's a win-win!

Yes please!

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I mostly have my Xbox for the backwards compatibility, but that's technically reliant on digital distribution as well, even if I have the physical game discs

 

[Tonberry]

do we have news of anything after Series S/X?

We only have Phil Spencer saying "of course we're making more consoles are you crazy?" which doesn't really mean anything until proven, but I'm not personally cynical enough to believe that they would just drop out of console manufacturing. At least not yet as their fate isn't guaranteed to be sealed yet. All the big console manufacturers have had hard times getting new footing on this mainly-digital market, so I don't really see them leaving so suddenly.

 

[revck]

What I really have been worrying for quite some time, from this specific brand you cited, is an event that (I believe it's also plausible) will show a new gaming pattern which is 100% or nearly cloud/digital.
Even though I won't support those efforts, I am worried it could lead future developments of other brands more and more into that side.

I can't tell you how much it's causing troubles the fact that literally I found 0 ways to disable updates on that brand's OS, and a laptop has a component which on update breaks forever until OS is cleaned (WIFI & Blueooth module).
Me not like these control freak habits.

 

[Tortuga]

Xbox barely exist in general

 

[qw90700]

"When they don't contain the actual game"

Do you work for legacy media because you know how to fuck up whole meaning of statement by picking the tiny aspect of the statement that is not what the whole statement is about lolol.

But honestly I have no idea what you actually reacting to and what you trying to convey. Do you believe still to this day every physical game you buy necessarily contains the game? Do you believe discs itself contain enough data of the game so you can play without downloading shit? Tell me about your beliefs and I promise I'll speak the truth lolol.

 

[Elwiwi]

Xbox games sell ? I thought they only have the game pass

 

[qw90700]

Xbox games sell ? I thought they only have the game pass

To be more exact game sales started to be "no such thing" since Steam got popular, you just "rent a license to play the game" until "we don't want you to play anymore" shit!!!

 

[revck]

Do you work for legacy media because you know how to fuck up whole meaning of statement by picking the tiny aspect of the statement that is not what the whole statement is about lolol.

View attachment 115684

But honestly I have no idea what you actually reacting to and what you trying to convey. Do you believe still to this day every physical game you buy necessarily contains the game? Do you believe discs itself contain enough data of the game so you can play without downloading shit? Tell me about your beliefs and I promise I'll speak the truth lolol.

Ops sorry for the misinterpretation, here's what I wanted to mean:

• I understood you were sarcastic about it and my quote was not related to yourself but to the direction of the industry
• I quoted the part and shared a "angry" emoji to signify that it's not good for companies to go into the digital only direction and to have game-free game cases. I believe you got angry because of the emoji, however it was directed to the overall digital-first top topic, not to yourself if that makes sense.
• That's all really no other hidden meanings

Do you believe discs itself contain enough data of the game so you can play without downloading shit?

• Well, in most cases probably, but in those cases in which doesn't happen, personal preference is to give physical goods.. a physical treatment.

Overall my opinion is not ultimate, it is shared and free to dispute

If anything else not clear please let me know.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Yeah, the numbers are rough. Xbox’s share of physical game sales in the UK dropping from 11% in 2022 to a projected 6% this year really shows how fast things are shifting. Game Pass is great for access, but it’s all digital and that’s clearly impacting disc sales. Meanwhile, Nintendo and PlayStation are holding strong, especially in the physical market.

Even hardware’s taking a hit. Xbox consoles are expected to make up just 13% of the UK market this year, down from 31%. And with retailers like Costco pulling Xbox products, it’s clear the strategy is changing. Microsoft’s pivot to broader device support and the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld shows they’re still in the game but it’s a very different game now.

I get the frustration. The digital shift feels like it’s erasing a whole part of gaming culture.

 

[Elwiwi]

To be more exact game sales started to be "no such thing" since Steam got popular, you just "rent a license to play the game" until "we don't want you to play anymore" shit!!!

View attachment 115686

What steam just sells a license ??? I thought the only ones doing it was those evil companies , those pc gamers lied to me

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

Xbox games sell ? I thought they only have the game pass

Hey now. I buy Xbox games. 2nd hand from eBay, but still

 

[Elwiwi]

To be fair xbox has the series s which at least to my point of view is a good machine for it's price ( before the 45243 rd price raise tho )

 

[qw90700]

Ops sorry for the misinterpretation, here's what I wanted to mean:

• I understood you were sarcastic about it and my quote was not related to yourself but to the direction of the industry
• I quoted the part and shared a "angry" emoji to signify that it's not good for companies to go into the digital only direction and to have game-free game cases. I believe you got angry because of the emoji, however it was directed to the overall digital-first top topic, not to yourself if that makes sense.
• That's all really no other hidden meanings

Do you believe discs itself contain enough data of the game so you can play without downloading shit?

• Well, in most cases probably, but in those cases in which doesn't happen, personal preference is to give physical goods.. a physical treatment.

Overall my opinion is not ultimate, it is shared and free to dispute

If anything else not clear please let me know.

Well thank you my good sir/lady for adequate satisfactory explanation for my not good for anything brain. Yes yes. lolol

Nope, I didn't feel anything for you but how shitty the industry going as a topic kinda makes me heated up!!!

Do you believe discs itself contain enough data of the game so you can play without downloading shit?

• Well, in most cases probably, but in those cases in which doesn't happen, personal preference is to give physical goods.. a physical treatment.

You are very... optimistic:

Well the exact year is unknown to me but I kinda remember people were being WTF when consoles games not containing the game and asking for download like few years ago. PC games started to be that shit long before, I unfortunately learned when I bought The Evil Within 1 in 2014 and then since then shit was disappointing. Half because even Blu-ray is not enough anymore and then "we patch games anymore" shit kinda makes existence of physical games pointless in functionality (yet I don't mean physical games are pointless to have if you wanna collect physical stuff and wanna use them as decoration or something). Well I guess this shit was a bomb that happened suddenly when game sizes increased a lot, even Nintendo games won't have the game anymore so it seems. The future seems so empty and bleak trying to hide this BS behind pointless facade that trying to act like physical without being free from its digital chains!!! Alas alas!!! *drama over 9000* lolol

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

PC games started to be that shit long before, I unfortunately learned when I bought The Evil Within 1 in 2014 and then since then shit was disappointing.

I bought a disc copy of Elder's Scrolls III: Morrowind for my laptop back in like 2016-2017? only to find out it needed a Steam account to play. I didn't have a Steam account back then, or the internet to even make one and download the game. That's how I found out PC games were pretty much all digital by that point regardless.

 

[throughdarkness]

I was there for Oblivion horse armor in the flesh.

 

[qw90700]

I bought a disc copy of Elder's Scrolls III: Morrowind for my laptop back in like 2016-2017? only to find out it needed a Steam account to play. I didn't have a Steam account back then, or the internet to even make one and download the game. That's how I found out PC games were pretty much all digital by that point regardless.

It really sucks, it sucked harder when why I bought The Evil Within 1's physical version was I didn't wanna download like 50 GB!!! I wanted good old days of installing games via 6 discs or something!!! lolol

 

[CaptainToad]

I had a thought earlier this week.
Why don't manufacturers switch to jewel cases again? They're smaller so you can ship more of them for the same amount of effort, we don't have manuals anymore so the size isn't an issue there, and most importantly, they're sexy as FUCK.
It's a win-win!

Loved the disc art design back in the '90s. It doesn't even cost more, they just had to get good designers. So BDs in jewel cases with a little effort would be cool.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Game Pass conditioned Xbox players not to buy games.

First Microsoft killed physical games with Game Pass, then they killed the hardware, now they're killing Game Pass with its $30 price hike.

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

I haven't seen a physical game go on sale anymore, used is how I get those discounts. As much as I do want the disc for my own peace of mind of owning the game I'm not going to waste the chance of a digital release being even cheaper than the used copy, unless it's a buy 2 get 3rd free deal. Microsoft I knew wasn't going to keep this model of Game Pass as it was, people need to eat and when their studio title first day of launch is missing actual sales money to be on the pass it would make sense the studio will cut back. Nintendo is making even my cheap tail end on further lock down after having to hunt for purchases on my account it's dumb game key card library system and my PSN account hasn't seen a purchase in 2 years.

 

[JPchicre]

Well the UK may not be representative of all of Microsoft game division, and the digital sales may be compensating for the lack of physical sales(I really doubt that, especially the second point). But even considering those things, the future seems grim for the Xbox Label, I know that anecdotes might not be worth much, but I have never known anyone with an Xbox One in real life. The recent price increase for the GamePass seems to also have angered their current player base. I am not sure that, the people that will keep paying for it will be compensate for the ones that wont be renewing their subscriptions. Lot of Weird business decision coming from the House of Gates as of late.