According to recent reports, the dominance of digital distribution in the USA is advancing at a rapid pace. After Walmart, another large US retail chain is said to have decided to stop selling games on disc.
In recent years, the proportion of games sold digitally on consoles has steadily increased. The impending decline of retail sales was accelerated by subscription offers such as PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass.
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A development to which the US retailer Walmart responded with a drastic step. The leading retail chain in the USA announced in January that it would completely stop selling video games on disc. According to current reports, the next big retail chain in the USA is following suit: Target.
According to the X channel “Physical Media”, a company spokesperson confirmed that Target will no longer offer video games on disc starting in 2025. This applies to both Target's online shop and its more than 1,900 branches in the USA. However, an official confirmation from the dealer is still pending.
A similar trend is emerging in Europe
The fact that we are not dealing with a phenomenon exclusive to the USA was made clear Reports from Europe, which reached us in February. Here, Christopher Dring from GamesIndustry.biz spoke about the fact that the first retailers in Europe have decided to remove Xbox games on disc from their range, as the majority of titles on the Xbox are now purchased digitally.
“Shortly before Christmas, I learned from a large publisher that some retailers across Europe no longer had the Xbox in their product range. The physical performance of the games is very low. “And if you sell a console that most people just download games for, that doesn’t really do much for the retailer,” said Dring, commenting on the development.
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However, it remains to be seen whether retailers in Europe can expect similarly consistent steps as in the USA.
Microsoft is said to have disbanded Teams for retail titles
According to Windows Central's Jez Corden, Microsoft could also have reacted to the developments of the last few years. As Corden claims to have learned, the Xbox makers are said to have decided to disband their teams for retail titles and only rely on external partners.
“Microsoft has also closed divisions dedicated to bringing Xbox games to physical retail stores. If you've seen the leaks about the digital-only Xbox consoles, you can get an idea of where Microsoft is heading,” said the Windows Central editor.
Corden's statements were supported a short time later by Microsoft's announcement that “Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2”, which was released in May, would only be released digitally.
Further reports on general news.
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