Phil Spencer says Xbox 'supports physical media'

Last year, the all-digital Xbox Series This is a worrying precedent, as the Xbox 360 digital storefront will be shutting down in July. This means that physical media will be the only way to get games for this platform going forward. If something similar were to happen to the all-digital generation in the future, it would be a major blow to preservation.

Adding fuel to the fire, reports surfaced last month that Xbox was shutting down its physics division as part of mass layoffs. However, in an interview with Game File reporter Stephen Totilo, Xbox head Phil Spencer emphasized that he “supports physical media.”

While we support physical media, we do not need to promote physical media disproportionate to customer demand.

“We ship games physically and digitally, but we’re really just following customer behavior,” Spencer said. “And I think our job in running Xbox is to give the vast majority of our customers what they want, and right now the vast majority of our customers are buying their games digitally. Masu.”

Spencer also pointed out that the Xbox already has a digital-only console with no disc drive in the Series S, and the PlayStation 5 has a digital-only version as well, so this is the new standard for this generation.

He added that game consoles are “one of the last consumer electronics products.” [devices] that [have] But that doesn’t mean Xbox plans to abandon disk drives completely.

“I will say that our strategy is not dependent on people moving all digitally,” Spencer said. “And taking away the physical stuff is not a strategic thing for us.”

However, Spencer did not comment on the leaked digital-only Series X (codenamed “Brooklyn”). According to leaked FTC documents, it will cost the same as the standard Series X, unlike the digital-only PS5, which is cheaper than the regular version. However, it will come with “more internal storage, faster Wi-Fi, lower power consumption, and a more immersive controller” and a redesigned cylindrical shape.

The aforementioned controller was also leaked. It has gyro and haptic feedback, and has quieter buttons and thumbsticks. Perhaps the biggest improvement mentioned is the rechargeable and replaceable battery pack. However, neither the controller nor the console have been officially announced yet, so something could change behind the scenes.