CEO confirms, Xbox has no plans to ditch physical discs for now

A few days ago, there were countless reports that physical Xbox games might go obsolete since their demand has subsided in the recent past, and they aren’t as profitable now. To dispel these rumours, Microsoft Gaming’s CEO, Phil Spencer, confirmed that physical discs are not going anywhere.

In an interview with GameFile, Spencer stated,

I will say our strategy does not hinge on people moving all-digital. And getting rid of physical, that’s not a strategic thing for us.

Though he did raise the fact that gaming consoles are the last of the consumer devices that still come with a disc drive. And given the fall in both demand and supply, the prices will go up, which remains a concern.

Also, Spencer did substantiate the fact that digital game sales are at an all-time high.

We ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing. And I think our job in running Xbox is to deliver on the things that a majority of the customers want. And right now, a majority of our customers are buying games digitally.

When pressed about the recent layoffs in Microsoft, primarily roles linked to the physical discs space, Spencer said that the move was aimed at aligning teams across ZeniMax, Activision and Xbox.

Spencer confirms that Microsoft still has teams that deal with the retail of physical games, and it’s not going anywhere, at least anytime soon.

But Xbox’s push for digital games is evident. It released Xbox Series S, a digital-only console that doesn’t feature a disc drive. It does make sense, given that 90% of game sales last year were digital downloads.

While Phil Spencer’s recent comments put to rest all rumours about Xbox going digital, it remains to be seen how long Microsoft will support physical discs. Because the future is digital!

How long do you think physical discs will remain viable for Xbox? Share with our readers in the comments section.