Microsoft layoffs could be the end of Xbox’s physical games
If you thought 2023 was bad for industry layoffs, 2024 is already coming for the crown... and it's only January. Last year saw layoffs for everyone from Epic Games to Niantic, BioWare to Naughty Dog, proving that almost nobody was safe. As we enter a new year, one of the industry giants has fallen on its own sword.
While some seemed to escape the wasteland of 2023 unscathed, it didn't take long for this year to set an ugly precedent. January 2024 has already seen Twitch announce its own cull. However, this was a relative drop in the ocean compared to the announcement that Microsoft was axing around 1,900 jobs from its gaming arm.
Xbox could be done with physical game releases
Despite the massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard to bring the might of Call of Duty (and more) to the Green Team, it seems like Microsoft is trying to recoup that $68.7 billion in other ways. According to Windows Central's Jez Corden, the ABK deal could spell the end of physical game releases for Xbox titles.
Although Corden said that Microsoft has shuttered departments responsible for bringing Xbox games to retail, it's too early to go with sensationalist headlines of "Xbox is quitting physical" just yet. Still, with him saying this seems to be the "industry trajectory," he reiterates that the "writing is on the wall."
Microsoft has been pushing us toward digital since the Xbox 360 days, and with the All-Digital Xbox One S releasing in 2019, we should've seen this coming. Make the most of your physical games while you can because your gaming shelf could be looking a little bare in the future.
The Xbox is your new Game Pass machine
Click to enlargeThere have already been jokes that the Xbox Series S is basically a Game Pass machine. While there's no denying the subscription service is a great deal for fans, thanks to the gigantic library of titles it gives us access to, there are concerns that we're reaching Game Pass saturation.
As Ubisoft recently caused a stink by telling us we need to get used to not actually owning our games, this is a worrying trend. Despite forking over our hard-earned money for games, the fact their ownership only exists in the virtual world means publishers could technically pull them at any time.
Couple this with whispers of a digital-only Xbox Series X refresh, and the bigger picture starts to come into view. Microsoft has repeatedly said it doesn't actually make money on physical Xboxes, and as the likes of Sony and Nintendo corner that part of the market, it makes sense that Microsoft would bow out gracefully from the physical space.
The industry is on its head right now, and alongside Microsoft entering damage control, our sympathies go out to those affected. There's unlikely to be any official word on whether Xbox plans to go digital-only anytime soon, but it's safe to say we'll be buying that collector's edition of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 while we can.
