Summary
It appears that some retailers may be canceling a few physical releases ofXboxgames. Reports of these cancelations come ahead of theupcoming Xbox business update, which will respond to rampant rumors and speculation about the company’s role in the broader games market.
Discourse aboutXbox’s approach to exclusivity began a few weeks ago, when it was rumored that Tango Gameworks’Hi-Fi Rush, a critical darling released exclusively for Xbox and PC, will be coming to the Nintendo Switch and PS5, along with fellow Xbox exclusiveSea of Thieves. The discussion about potential cross-platform ports of Xbox games became considerably more animated and fervent when additional rumors surfaced regarding Xbox’s plans to bring flagship exclusives likeStarfieldand evenGears of Warto Sony’s console. Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, issued a tweet announcing an imminent business update that would address the rumors, though this did little to quell speculation.
Following theGameStop Game Pass controversy, sparked by the retailer referring to Game Pass with Microsoft’s branding rather than Xbox’s in an ad, more speculation has begun to swirl around leaked GameStop information. A recent tweet reveals that the gamesWelcome to ParadiZe,Taxi Life,Smalland Survive the Wilds,Tintin Reporter Cigars,and Hammerwatch 2 Chronicles,were marked as “canceled” in GameStop’s internal system, which ostensibly tracks which games will be getting shipped to the retailer’s locations. The games listed in the tweet have also been stamped as “currently unavailable” on Amazon.
Allegedly Canceled Physical Xbox Games
Looking at this news, it may be easy to assume that other,bigger Xbox gameswill follow suit and not receive physical releases. Indeed, this is just what many responses to the tweet seem to suggest, with some wondering if this is merely another step in Xbox’s overall plans to abandon its hardware and go fully multi-platform with its games. However, it’s crucial to note that rumors of Xbox making a total leap into software have not been confirmed. Moreover, these five cancelations could have numerous alternate explanations, especially since they are such small games.
Regardless of what this GameStop news indicates, it’s clear thatXbox needs to address the rumorsabout its hardware plans. The prospect ofXboxfollowing the likes of SEGA and becoming completely focused on software isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but it’s important that the gaming community doesn’t blow anything out of proportion before any official confirmations.
Microsoft Xbox Series X
The Xbox Series X boasts the fastest CPU and GPU configuration currently available for a current-generation console while offering 1TB of fast SSD storage for users out of the box.It comes with an Xbox Series S|X controller, a power cord, and documentation along with a trial for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in the box.
