Microsoft Update (02/07/24): a number of physical Xbox releases from smaller publishers have been cancelled in Gamestop's internal system, other platforms unaffected

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

From Andrew Marmo:

 

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Walmart to start removing physical Xbox games in store starting with Starfield. Copies are either going to be 0.03 cents or be destroyed.

 

Internal Wal-Mart inventory system memo:

 

 

 

From Wario64:

 

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I saw this memo earlier as well (not through these same exact screenshots) - Walmart will prep to remove Starfield Xbox physical copies from their stores but you could get very lucky and get it for 3 cents on Monday (the memo says the system will block the purchase)

 

[Bacon]

Starfield killed gaming

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

According to the memo, Microsoft is funding this action which means that Wal-Mart will be made whole financially for any losses caused by the disposal of the physical stock.

[Keyser_Soze]

Go in there now so they can unlock the games from behind the glass and give it to you for 3 cents.

[Paperclyp]

Wowzer

[stepee]

I’m going to wait for them to do this and shoplift them

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

OK - a couple of Wal-Mart managers posted in this topic's thread on ResetERA and stated that the $0.03 price would trigger a "sales block" when scanned at the register if you attempted to purchase it as that price is intended for internal stock disposal use only.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

OK - a couple of Wal-Mart managers posted in this topic's thread on ResetERA and stated that the $0.03 price would trigger a "sales block" at the register if you attempted to buy it as that price is intended for internal stock disposal use only.

 

The 3 cent deal is a shady deal in the loading docks after hours.

 

[DarkStar189]

Guessing a ton of physical Starfield games will pop up on marketplaces and eBay.

[Dre801]

A 3 cent copy of Starfield.  Sheesh.  I didn't even like the game much and don't plan to revisit it, and even I'd probably buy a copy for that much(if they would actually sell it to you)

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

Did Walmart buy into the Starfield hype? Did MS think they’d sell a bunch of copies around Christmas, contracted with Walmart to seemingly “rent shelf space” in every store, and they didn’t a ton of copies. Do either not realize how little physical copies sell compared to digital now? Or did Starfield sell just fine and this is just the overstock that MS and Walmart don’t care about and the advertising shelf space arrangement is just expiring?
 

the latter being no big deal and can happen all the time. Kind of used to happen in the movie Renault industry. You see an entire or two bays of wall space dedicated to a single movie, because Blockbuster and the Studio had an arrangement. Blockbuster would get a revenue share deal with the Studio with the agreement that after a period of time (usually 30 days) a certain percentage of the rental copies would either be sent back to the studio or destroyed each week for a period of weeks until you have just a few copies. This was why Blockbuster seemingly never sold some movies for used. 

[silentbob]

Seems like something similar is happening in Canada with our Shoppers Drug Mart. Some folks on another board saw stores clearing out it all Microsoft Gamepass games like Forza, for $19.99. No 3 cents deal, but ok for some folks.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Someone attempted to purchase a copy of Starfield at Wal-Mart today and this is what was displayed when the employee scanned it:

 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

So not $0.03?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

13 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

So not $0.03?

 

The $0.03 is probably reported in a different stockkeeping system that was used to trigger the "non-sellable item" flag.

[Biggie]

Is this only for Starfield or is it the early sign that they won’t be selling any physical games?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

7 minutes ago, Biggie said:

Is this only for Starfield or is it the early sign that they won’t be selling any physical games?

 

Currently it's only for Starfield, but the general speculation is that it will soon expand to all physical Xbox games.

[Keyser_Soze]

I don't know if it was this topic or not but I had a really weird dream.

 

Xbox was selling physical copies of Forza in the morning at Wal-Mart. So 10 minutes before school I had my dad drive me to Wal-Mart so I could pick up a physical copy early in the morning. But when I got there there was some kind of fuck up and the employee said I would have to come back at midnight.

 

Now this is weird for a lot of reasons. I'm not going to school, I can drive myself and my dad is dead. Also there is already a physical version of Forza

[Spork3245]

XSX mid-gen refresh “leaks” point to it not having a disc drive and being all digital. Certainly explains this if true.

 

Xbox Series X 2024 (Brooklin): Features, price, design, and everything we know so far | Windows Central

WWW.WINDOWSCENTRAL.COM

---

A refreshed Xbox Series X with a new design and features is expected to make its debut this year.

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

From Chris Ding, head of GI.biz:

 

 

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I was told by a major publisher, about just before Christmas, that across Europe several retailers have started just not listing Xbox anymore. Right, so they've just stopped stocking Xbox games because the digital, the Xbox is such a digital console now. The physical performance of Xbox games is really low and ultimately when you're selling a console that most people are just downloading games for, it doesn't really benefit the retailer very much. The margin on hardware is often quite small so, I wasn't able to corroborate that, I couldn't find which retailers these are, but it was a proper senior European publishing boss that said it to me.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if some of this is "Xbox is pushing away from physical" but I don't think physical retailers are gonna care. They might still sell controllers and things like that but ultimately, Xbox is so digital, like you think PC and Mobile being digital dominated, but Xbox is not that far back anymore. PlayStation's a little further behind and Nintendo is a little bit further behind that, but it's [Xbox] such a digital dominant console so I wouldn't be surprised if some of these moves [The layoffs to the department that handles physical releases] are just necessary, you don't need as many people focusing on box shifting when, ultimately, fewer retailers are stocking your product.

 

 

It's not like Europe was a significant market for the Xbox anyway, but this one more indication that the days of the distribution of physical Xbox games could very well be coming to a close.

[crispy4000]

The biggest problem with bowing out of retail, IMO, is the mindshare they potentially forfeit.  Not all people shop for hardware online, and seeing consoles in person with demo kiosks and a vibrant game selection markets to the general public making their Walmart and Target runs.

But Microsoft only cares about Games Pass yada yada yada…. that only works with viable on-ramps into their ecosystem, and Xbox consoles are still the most definite avenue Microsoft has to do that.  Well, unless cloud gaming apps on TVs are the future of this medium, and they become the literal Netflix of gaming in the process.

 

It still feels like they’re banking on the Activision acquisition to offset choices like this and porting more games to PlayStation.  It could pay off.  Maybe they have the metrics to suggest this is how they win mindshare and generate as much revenue as possible.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

5 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

The biggest problem with bowing out of retail, IMO, is the mindshare they potentially forfeit.  Not all people shop for hardware online, and seeing consoles in person with demo kiosks and a vibrant game selection markets to the general public making their Walmart and Target runs.

But Microsoft only cares about Games Pass yada yada yada…. that only works with viable on-ramps into their ecosystem, and Xbox consoles are still the most definite avenue Microsoft has to do that.  Well, unless cloud gaming apps on TVs are the future of this medium, and they become the literal Netflix of gaming in the process.

 

It still feels like they’re banking on the Activision acquisition to offset choices like this and porting more games to PlayStation.  It could pay off.  Maybe they have the metrics to suggest this is how they win mindshare and generate as much revenue as possible.

 

I thought this post on ResetERA was really quite good!

 

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What fascinates and eludes me in equal measure about Microsoft's strategy is that at the same time they gesture towards this fantastical idealistic future where their platform is powered by subscriptions and services, essentially, core to those subscriptions and services' success is also the success of their platform which is simultaneously apparently very important and also not very important.

 

Physical spaces may not be extraordinarily profitable but they also serve as a source of visibility for your platform, a constant corner-of-your-eye reminder of the platform's existence and presence, it's a form of marketing in itself at a time where MS apparently also thinks it's a good idea to cut their actual marketing budgets as if they're a strong market leader that doesn't need the help and not a struggling platform that is tracking millions of sales behind their previous already troubled platform. I understand their stated goals, and every time we get an MS thread you always get "well, their console isn't that important to them, what's important to them is Game Pass" but, like, you can't just immediately jump from A, B, C, to Z. There are intervening steps where this plan and the moves they make just feel incoherent. You have to push your platform enough to get people in the door in the first place, especially considering that's where the vast majority of your subscriber base comes from, and whatever magical smaller cloud devices people keep theorizing about for the better part of a decade now simply haven't materialized.

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

If it's true that MS really wants to go beyond hardware, then ISPs hold the fate of the Xbox's future in their hands. Those are not hands I want to be held by! 

[AbsolutSurgen]

27 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

I thought this post on ResetERA was really quite good!

 

 

I would have agreed with that 7 years ago.  Given the rapid transition of gaming away from physical media, I suspect that, outside of recent releases, we'll quickly see retailers move away from stocking Switch and PS5 games as well.  I just don't think they'll turn fast enough and have enough margin to justify the floor space. 

[DarkStar189]

7 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

The biggest problem with bowing out of retail, IMO, is the mindshare they potentially forfeit.  Not all people shop for hardware online, and seeing consoles in person with demo kiosks and a vibrant game selection markets to the general public making their Walmart and Target runs.

I can only go by my experience as a parent. My kids are almost 10 and 12 years old. They have grown up with almost everything being digital in my house. They are so used to us just buying everything online and it just appearing at the front door.  I’ve taken them to Gamestop a couple times and it doesn’t excite them. They almost act confused like why do we have to drive here and walk around just to buy a game.  10 years ago I was all physical media and always thought that I would be. Digital gaming just crept into my life and took over.

Covid probably accelerated more people into just buying everything online, along with all the YouTube reviews and unboxing videos. I’m going to be sad to see it all change but it’s probably overdue

[silentbob]

I admit I don’t really buy games for my Series X because of gamepass. I buy for my PS5 and Switch, but I really have no need to buy from Microsoft anymore. It’s nice for the convenience but I worry that in general that physical media is disappearing. I love having the “hard copy” available but I have been on the receiving end a couple times up North here with digital movies disappearing from my collection. Hell one company even folded but I was thankfully able to transfer them all (but a couple) over to my Google TV/Movies account for free. Still I don’t like seeing stuff I own, disappear without me being told first. Would hate to see that trend over to all games, but we know that it’s probably not that far off either

[SuperSpreader]

Is this why they needed COD? So they can make money in Europe?

[crispy4000]

45 minutes ago, DarkStar189 said:

I can only go by my experience as a parent. My kids are almost 10 and 12 years old. They have grown up with almost everything being digital in my house. They are so used to us just buying everything online and it just appearing at the front door.  I’ve taken them to Gamestop a couple times and it doesn’t excite them. They almost act confused like why do we have to drive here and walk around just to buy a game.  10 years ago I was all physical media and always thought that I would be. Digital gaming just crept into my life and took over.

Covid probably accelerated more people into just buying everything online, along with all the YouTube reviews and unboxing videos. I’m going to be sad to see it all change but it’s probably overdue

There’d be almost no incentive for retailers to push Black Friday sales for Xbox consoles.  Retail isn’t just about the front facing kiosks, it’s the adverts and customer bases that the big 3 can tap into.  Including online.

 

I don’t think GameStop is as critical as the wholesale stores either way.

 

[best3444]

I never thought back in the day I'd be strictly digital but I haven't bought a physical game in over 3 years now. I will always be digital going forward. 

[DarkStar189]

1 hour ago, best3444 said:

I never thought back in the day I'd be strictly digital but I haven't bought a physical game in over 3 years now. I will always be digital going forward. 

I think the other reason I gave up on physical are the day one patches. You buy a disc and still end up downloading the whole game anyway.

[crispy4000]

Physical to me, cynically, is about the used market and retail promotions keeping console game pricing in check.

 

I don’t think games get cheaper to own if a single storefront dictates what you’ll pay for a game on its platform.  The cost savings of skipping retail won’t be passed on to us, but pocketed.

[Keyser_Soze]

4 hours ago, best3444 said:

I never thought back in the day I'd be strictly digital but I haven't bought a physical game in over 3 years now. I will always be digital going forward. 

 

I haven't bought a physical game since the Xbox 360, and even by then I was selling some games and getting them digitally instead.

[best3444]

11 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I haven't bought a physical game since the Xbox 360, and even by then I was selling some games and getting them digitally instead.

 

I do miss the excitement of going to a store to buy a game though. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

From Cheap Ass Gamer:

 

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News: A number of Xbox physical game releases from smaller publishers have been marked as cancelled on GameStop's internal system. Games are also listed as "Currently unavailable" on Amazon. Other platforms are still available for pre-order.

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Those were games?