It was reported earlier this year that an Austrian retailer was boycotting Microsoft due to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Well that Austrian retailer isn’t the only one unhappy with Microsoft because some retailers in the UK are also boycotting the Xbox brand too.
If you did not know already, Microsoft is allowing gamers to play all of its first party exclusives on Xbox Game Pass for just a small monthly fee. It’s way cheaper to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass rather than just buying multiple games at a retail store per year.
Some independent UK retailers have voiced their frustrations while being interviewed by GamesIndustry.biz. Extreme Gamez says Game Pass kills the second hand market because players can now just pay a small fee to play full video games each month rather than spend £12 to £15 on one second hand title.
Extreme Gamez will now not stock any Microsoft Xbox products anymore and will push to market Sony’s PS4 from now on. He says Microsoft is not supporting physical retailers so now he’s not restocking Xbox stuff at his store.
Stan’s Games is another UK retailer and the person running the store is also annoyed at Microsoft. He says he does not make much money off of new release Xbox game sales so has decided to drop them completely as well. Sea of Thieves will not be stocked at his shop.
GamesIndustry.biz interviewed several other retailers and they have the same attitude. They are really nervous over the future of game retail stores if Sony and Nintendo decide to do a similar service in the near future.
It’s sad to see physical retailers dying out, but this is not the first time this has happened. Physical music stores vanished once everybody started downloading music online. Physical video rental stores are also shutting down worldwide as more people just watch movies online via Netflix or other sources now.
