Speaking to a user on X, Josh Fairhurst described why it has not created Xbox versions for some upcoming Konami Limited Run Games. “[Our] physical releases on Xbox — even of major, substantial games — rarely top 2,000 copies sold,” Fairhurst said frankly. “We wouldn’t be able to make our investment back. Unfortunately, Xbox is a very digital heavy platform.” Fairhurst explained that when they’ve entered into deals purely for physical royalties, the Xbox volume simply isn’t there to justify the stock allocation, essentially.
“Yes, a port [to Xbox] will cost us about $50K on average, and physical releases on Xbox generally only make us about $30K after costs and partner royalties. We count on digital to make up the slack, but on some projects we have no share or only a tiny share in the digital earnings.”
Limited Run Games typically deals with indie titles and games that have a smaller footprint, but even bigger companies like Square Enix, of Final Fantasy fame, have given up on launching physical games on Xbox. Final Fantasy 16, 7 Remake, and Final Fantasy Tactics — all direct-to-digital on Xbox.
Answer: Because the market has moved on and the publishers are adjusting.
Also, Xbox can be digital heavy as we trust our purchases will stay - there’s still 360 games I bought or claimed with Gold that are avaliable for me to download and play on my Series X, along with my saves.
Given Nintendo and Sony have only this generation actually decided to support the previous generation (and likely through gritted teeth) many of their players are probably still a little wary - plus I’ve noticed there’s a lot more of the “buy physical or they’ll take your games away!” conspiracy lot on PlayStation…
It says a lot that even Nintendo is moving toward an all digital platform. Digital is cheaper for publishers and helps them ensure that they get money from every sale (no second hand market). And on top of that less and less people are buying physical, especially on Xbox consoles.
To Microsoft’s credit, unlike Nintendo and PS, Xbox is doing stuff to make digital more valuable. Xbox play anywhere is fantastic and backwards compatibility does provide ease of mind when buying digitally on Xbox