Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, games, HRL, microsoft, video games, xbox, xbox one

Austrian Retailer Stops Selling the Xbox One Due to Recent Xbox Game Pass Announcement

Published Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:45:11 -0600

Last updated Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:48:39 -0600

Gameware, an Austrian games retailer, has said that due to Microsoft's recent announcement about Xbox Game Pass exclusives, it will no longer be selling the console.

The Xbox Game Pass announcement the other day, I think, is great. Having a service that is loaded with shifting games, that also gets you Xbox One exclusives day and date is a really appealing offer. These services have been toyed with for a while now by several companies, but it's really exciting to see Microsoft jump two feet in and drop the big games in there. It looks like a win-win for player and publisher alike. Everyone should be happy right?

Well, everyone except the middlemen it would seem. One retailer has taken the announcement particularly badly. Austrian Gameware has told German gaming magazine Gamesmarkt (via WCCFTech) that it no longer has any plans to sell or support Xbox consoles. It seems the company has no interest in supporting the Xbox product if it has no interest in supporting the retailer. They question why they should sell a console:

which bring zero profit and only expenditure, [if Microsoft exclusively wants to profit from their software sales]. If you want to do business alone, you should do the work alone.

This is an ongoing discussion, even outside of games, as media companies move towards streaming and reaching their audience directly. Movie theatres have had a stand-offish relationship with services like Netflix, and as more and more big movies start to hit VoD day and date with release, that is only getting pricklier. Of course, it's not hard to empathise with a store, as they need this stuff to survive, but personally, I love the easy access these services can bring. I doubt this will change Xbox's course at all, even if it becomes a bigger problem, I hope Microsoft stay true to this commitment.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!