In the wake of the news that Best Buy will start to phase out the sales of physical media, it has been claimed that Walmart is planning to follow suit, starting by discontinuing the sale of physical Xbox games in the new year.
This claim comes from Josh Fairhurst, the CEO of Limited Run Games, on Twitter. He explained how he has heard rumours that Walmart is ‘dropping’ physical Xbox games soon, but further cuts will be made in the future that could impact other platforms.
Physical Being Phased Out
It was just yesterday that a Ubisoft representative was explaining how there will always be a market for physical games. Today, a claim has dropped suggesting that the biggest retailer in the United States is preparing to stop stocking physical media – which will undoubtedly be a blow to that market, but is it all inevitable?
As time goes on, we’re becoming increasingly digital as gamers. With cloud streaming services rising in popularity over time and tech titans like Microsoft and Sony fielding consoles that suit the digital player, physical media is becoming almost archaic, for some consumers.
Josh Fairhurst believes that, as 2024 unravels, Walmart (and outside of that, potentially other retailers) will make ‘further cuts’ to physical gaming sections.
Are you still buying physical games?
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This screen is horrible with all the advertising clutter in the way and the distraction made with the moving picture screen above what we try to read.
That’s a terrible idea. That’s all I buy is actual game discs. I guess if this does come into fruition then that makes my game discs more valuable. Again it’s still a terrible idea. Not keen on buying digital games because your S.O.L if the internet was to go out.
Swing on in to GameStop
Often a game can be released with a bug that you LIKE. The Dark Alliance game was released with a bug that allowed you to keep your loot even if you abandoned the level. That was one of the first bugs that they fixed…before fixing the bugs where you a ladder is o a new section Fails to operate..you guessed it, forcing you to abandon the level.
So with the updated version, you still have some bugs,but without the benefits of at least keeping your loot when the game blocks you from progress. That added an unacceptable level of frustration to the game.
So I was able to reload the base version from the disc and at least make some progress. Otherwise it would have been $20 completely wasted.
“where a ladder to a new section Fails to operate”
Bad proofreader here.
Walmart performs major resets in its entertainment departments twice a year. The fall one occurs this week, and spring reset is in May. The earliest this could occur is May, as my store is well underway with it’s fall reset. The categories for Xbox games are split between digital, value, and the main one. All three categories are still remain on the floor plan.
I enjoy having my physical collection of games that I own, so I always buy physical copies of games that I like the most. It does not help that I live in an area where I rely on satellite internet with a data cap, which is a terrible option for downloading games and playing online all the time.
False information. Physical will always be in demand. I and nearly all of my friends ONLY buy physical copies. Why pay for a digital code you can’t use if the net goes down nor trade if you no longer want it. Guess GameStop will be making a hard-core comeback….