As part of the mass Xbox layoffs this week, news has also emerged about the company's physical games being impacted, with Microsoft reportedly shutting down key departments.
While there's no evidence just yet Microsoft is necessarily withdrawing completely from this space, it has raised questions about the future of physical support within this ecosystem - with speculation Xbox could outsource and might be consolidating.
Now, in response to this development, the CEO of physical distributor Limited Run Games, Josh Fairhurst, has chimed in on social media. mentioning how his company would "continue to support Xbox" hard copy releases "whenever possible":
"We'll continue to support Xbox physical releases whenever possible at @LimitedRunGames"
Limited Run has previously released a bunch of physical copies for Xbox platforms including Grim Fandango and the more recent Monkey Island game.
Admittedly, Fairhurst has also previously mentioned some issues when it comes to physical Xbox distribution, explaining earlier this month how the distributor can't always justify Xbox physical releases as users of this platform are generally "digital first".
"Physical game sales are not high enough on Xbox to offset our development costs, so we have no option but to skip Xbox on these titles."
For now, don't be too worried - as the source of the initial report, Windows Central's Jez Corden places importance on the fact that this doesn't necessarily mean "Xbox is quitting physical". This is more likely tied to the current industry trajectory and emphasis on digital gaming moving forward.
How would you feel about Microsoft potentially moving away from physical gaming? Do you think companies like LRG could fill the void? Leave your thoughts below.
Comments 14
One problem with Limited Run is that, for new releases (or new re-releases) you get the game months after it actually comes out.
Then again, I'm more into playing games than collecting them.
Boy, I sure can't wait for Limited Run to get hit even harder by scalpers as this progresses.
Excellent to see although we know they're pushing for digital only products.
I love my physical media tough.
Am I missing something? Limited run games publish stuff physical and digital but xbox doesn't sell enough physical for them to make money back but refuse to do an easy port job for digital? I don't understand how this is an issue to just do digital.
Possession is nine-tenths of the law,
i like having something i have paid for and having some measure of 'right' to go with it.
@Kaloudz fear of missing out
@Beetlebum91 Limited Run don't always have the rights for digital release of titles. So for "Game X" they could have the digital AND physical distribution rights, but for "Game Y" they only have the physical rights so would not make money on a port to a particular platform if the physical sales aren't there.
@PhileasFragg thanks for explaining it. That e3 show they put up was painful seeing all these great games come back like Tomba but I think the only xbox one they confirmed was gex, maybe clocktower too.
@Kaloudz no problem, I only learned the term because I’m into hobby board gaming and was getting very lost in forums when that term started popping up. I’m too old to learn new internet lingo. 😂
@Kaloudz SMH at Kaloudz
Good to hear.
Was joking with a friend on this topic last night that maybe Limited Run or iam8bit start producing Xbox first party games physically. Def enough of us that would scoop those.
I’m still mad I missed that RWBY Arrowfell release. Almost bought digitally last week since it was on sale…but keep hoping to see a copy in the wild that isn’t $100+
I also appreciate him going into detail on that Twitter thread as to why their Xbox release of TMNT Shredders Revenge with DLC was cancelled but the Switch and PS5 ones continued on. Relating to how the DLC is imprinted on the discs or not and it was not going to be that way for Xbox, so they didn't go forward with the Xbox edition. Which I guess is fine as I was upset enough with the double-dip for that game. Original release and BEFORE THAT DISC shipped for some, announcing a NEW edition with DLC.
@Kaloudz I’m right there with you, just turned 39, so no worries. It’s more hardcore games than what you’d typically see at a box store. D&D is often associated with it. I have board games that have hundreds of hours worth of content so they’re like RPG board games. It’s a nice change to video games. Games like Gloomhaven and Madara, are good examples if you’re curious.
In the early days of XB I would walk the physical aisles at GameStop, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy once a week to see the new physical releases. I only go to these aisles about once a year since late in the X360 cycle when all games released digitally.
By the end of this decade physical game releases will be all but dead. Just like music CDs and Blu-Rays. I do hope that they still put out external drives for people that have physical media (I still have a lot), but, as far as I am concerned physical entertainment media is a thing of the past.
I think that GamePass killed physical sales on XB. You think about it and physical sales are for people that are trying to keep gaming costs as low as possible, for people with poor internet connections, or people that are collectors. GamePass probably attracted a lot of the people trying to save money on gaming (It did for me). And Starlink is making fast Internet more universal. That leaves collectors who will keep buying physical media forever.
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