Xbox Launches Hellblade 2 Merch Line Ahead Of Next Week's Release

And yet they won’t do a ***** physical release

@Fishmasterflex96
Yes because physical release sales are pointless. That's why all the major retailers are pulling out.

@Fishmasterflex96 It will only get a physical release when it's ported to Sony and not before. Probably 6-12 months.

This shouldn't surprise you as don't get hardly any physical games for Xbox anymore for both first and third party. If you go to any games shop Xbox doesn't even get a whole shelf.

@Kooky_Geezer
Playstation and Nintendo Physical sales aren't super great either. Physical media in general is on the way out

@ZuneTattooGuy I agree it will be like PC eventually so it stops the second hand market.

@ZuneTattooGuy During Ninty's latest Q3 results, 55% or $1.122 billion was from physical game sales... they've gone on record to say they will continue with physical releases; 'This policy will remain unchanged going forward'
I fully suspect Xbox & PS5 physical sales will continue to decline though.

@Kooky_Geezer Big difference between Microsoft and Sony is Digital prices, Microsoft do Not lock you to their Digital Store whereas Sony do.
You can buy Full Digital games and Subscriptions from 3rd party on Xbox saving a fortune on store prices. You can't do that on PlayStation they lock you into their expensive store for everything, they even force you into buying a subscription for cloud saves on PS5 which is unbelievable especially as it's Free on Xbox.

OH?

I could use another frosty beer mug.

@Fishmasterflex96 Considering the ONLY gamers able to buy a 'Physical' release are those few on a Series X who prefer to buy Physical and don't/won't subscribe to Game Pass.

Series S and PC gamers, by far the largest two in terms of users as the Series S has outsold the Series X, are digital only platforms. They aren't buying Physical copies!

I would expect the vast majority of Series X owners will likely download and play this via Game Pass and/or buy it digitally anyway. Therefore, why spend money on manufacturing and distributing a game that very few will actually buy - its not 'stopping' them from buying and playing if they really wanted as its still available digitally. Its not as if you have to miss out because you can't buy it in your region or for your hardware.

I 'prefer' Physical myself as I like to have something I can 'hold' for my money, see my collection on the shelf grow etc but if a game I want is not available in that format, I'll buy digitally to play rather than 'miss out'.

Why make 1m Physical copies when it may not sell more than 10k because so 'few' people will 'choose' to buy it on Series X when most 'buy' digitally and/or will not 'buy' Hellblade because its on Game Pass anyway.

@Sifi Except you can buy digital codes for Playstation games from 3rd party vendors as well.

https://www.cdkeys.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-ps5-eu?__currency=gbp&irclickid=2WCRDWXBOxyPTpjWPA2F1TK1UkHQLlypGSoPzU0&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Booncy%20srl&irgwc=1

Edit...

Purchaded Blue Xbox logo Hellblade shirt and Beer Glass. That logo one with the blue peeling is SICK!!!!

Should be here just in time for release. Boom.

@Fishmasterflex96 Ninja Theory explained in their "making of" video for the first Hellblade why they keep the price $50 and do digital only releases.

@themightyant Another point about Sony is that the majority of their games are Single Player with little reason to replay. That may be a factor in Gamers purchasing as they may want to sell that game when they finish it - they can't do that with Digital.

Another aspect is that the PS5 Digital is not as popular as the Disc model. In other words, the 'majority' os PS5 gamers have access to a Disc drive for Physical media. With Xbox, their 'smallest' install base is the Series X, the ONLY system with a Disc drive. Series S and PC will buy Digitally.

On top of that, with Sony, the only way to play R&C, Spider-Man etc on Day 1 was to 'buy'. With Xbox, the vast majority will likely be playing 'Digitally' via Game Pass.

So when you look at the Gamers in each ecosystem, MS is only selling Physical to the 'few' on a Series X who 'prefer' to buy Physical AND don't/won't Subscribe to Game Pass - which is a very small percentage compared to Sony with their PS5 Disc model as the most popular (probably more than Series S/X has sold combined) and no 'free' digital option day 1 to disrupt 'Physical' sales.

I'm not going out to buy Starfield, Hellblade etc Day 1 when I can play 'free'. I may buy a Physical copy in a year or so on sale if available but just as likely to buy Digitally in a sale too. On Playstation, if I want to play day 1, then you have to buy and Physical is often cheaper because of retailer competition.

@sikthvash it will be interesting to see how heavily 3rd party supports physical switch games on switch 2. Many switch physical games already suffer from the "additional download needed" or were just a code in a box. Even if the switch 2 is vastly more powerful, they will need to do something about the 32 or 64gb limit of cartridges. It makes me wonder how a 100gb game would run if the entire thing was running off a physical cartridge.

If all of the bigger 3rd party games go with digital only then people's libraries will start to shift to digital.

Every generation is also going to be less likely to want physical games. Trying explaining the benefits of physical games to a 14 year old.

@DoomGuy_117 I was looking at the beer mug too. Might have to pull the trigger on that