Microsoft Reportedly Shut Down Departments Responsible for Physical Xbox Games

Microsoft has reportedly closed departments that were responsible for bringing Xbox games to physical retail amid its massive layoffs where it let go of 1,900 from Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax.

According to Windows Central's editor Jez Corden, while the tech giant did shut down this part of its forces, it doesn't necessarily mean Xbox owners won't see physical games anymore, as Microsoft can outsource, but the trend is certainly visible here.

Last year, Xbox Series X leaks revealed a fully digital console, so the company might be going in this direction soon. This might sound like a great idea for those who don't like boxes taking space, but there is a sizeable chunk of players who strongly dislike not being able to choose between a disc and a download. For example, when Alan Wake 2 was announced to be digital-only, some fans were extremely disappointed.

You might wonder why people cling to physical releases so much, and the answer is partly pragmatic: they want to own games – a choice that might fade one day with companies being able to cut access to them. For example, Ubisoft's director of subscriptions believes the shift from having and owning games needs to happen. When you have a game in your hands, it brings confidence that it's yours and no one can take it away.

Aside from the physical retail departments, Corden's sources say Microsoft is laying off the majority of internal customer support teams for Activision-Blizzard-King games and "a huge amount" of community managers.

This is going to be a difficult year, it seems. Find Corden's information here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.