Some independent games retailers in the UK have said they will no longer stock Xbox hardware and software as Games Pass has made their Xbox business “worthless overnight.”
Many of these smaller firms rely on day one and pre-owned sales, and now that all Microsoft Game studio titles will appear on Games Pass from day one they fear this will reduce sales and completely destroy any second hand value for the games.
“Essentially, it’s made [our Xbox business] worthless overnight,” said Stuart Benson of Leicestershire store Extreme Gamez via GamesIndustry.biz. “Why should we support them and sell their consoles and accessories if we’re going to get very little out of it? We don’t make anything off their digital selection. It’s pretty pointless. We might as well go where we’re supported, which is Sony.”
“Game Pass will have an effect on all first-party titles,” adds Sholing Video’s Paul Lemesurier. “We have already told Exertis we will not be stocking Sea of Thieves at all. Why bother when supermarkets will throw it out less then cost, online e-tailers will break street dates – which are a joke – and ship up to five days before release cheaper than us, and now Microsoft is throwing it on Game Pass for a tenner.”
However, some other retailers have said that Games Pass will barely effect their bsuiness as they don’t sell many Xbox games in the first place. “For every 20 PlayStation titles we sell, we only sell one or two Xbox titles. It’s not going to hit our bottom line massively,” commented one retailer.
Update: We’ve just had a Mass Debate about this and other topics.
Source: GI.biz
kjkg
OUCH. That’s some pretty brutal quotes there. And just when I thought it was going to be pulled back with the final point, it’s even worse.
I get that online sales are much bigger these days but if this story gains traction, this is not good PR for Microsoft, no matter how you look at it.
JR.
You’re on a roll today XD
Tuffcub
And yet.. not a single comment about being a Fanboy. Dammit!
kftX
Stop being such a Sony fanboy!
(did I do it right?)
Starman
Well I knew it would be you that wrote this one.
Avenger
It was inevitable. The amount of cancelled pre-orders after the announcement must have been through the roof.
Gotta love the naivety of retailers though. Sony/MS ain’t gonna fill their pockets with money or support, it’s the consumers. If they can’t match the supermarkets or whoever else offers a better deal/service, it’s a tough one. That’s business.
I haven’t bought any game off the high St for a while. Online retailers have been owning the market recently.
Tony Cawley
Sony and Microsoft need to be looking after their bricks and mortar retailers though, its hugely important for them that their consoles and sales have a visible high street presence.
Avenger
Yeah but it’s all akin to the video/music industry which is dominated by streaming services and leaves little for retailers. Retailers will always moan about it, but if they stop the products they’ll lose a share of the market, no matter how small. They’re cutting off their nose to spite others out of a tantrum.
To be blunt, we’re only just talking about first party as well. I’m surprised about the uproar for it considering everyone says there are no exclusives anyway. Even more laughable, Microsoft do something beneficial for gamers, and a select few tear it to pieces.
MOVE
But isn’t Gamepass a problem for E-tailers as well? If people finds that GamePass is enought for them then E-tailers are going to miss out too.
Starman
With this part
“Why bother when supermarkets will throw it out less then cost, online e-tailers will break street dates”
he basically gives no reason to buy any game from them!
So they’re going to lose out on all Xbox sales just because a small percentage of 3-4 titles a year will now not be bought from them?! This guy doesn’t strike me as a particularly good businessman.
I still see ps plus and gwg games on sale in shops, I wonder if he also refuses to sell those games.
mrfodder
The games industry is an unusual industry in that you buy the hardware and software in the same shops. For video or music you buy the hardware in an electrical shop and the software in a video or music shop.
This changes the relationship of the manufacturers to vendors completely.