Despite fears that console gaming will become all-digital in the future, Xbox top dog Phil Spencer has assured gamers that won’t be the case for Xbox.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Spencer confirmed that Xbox’s future won’t be confined to the cloud, and more consoles are planned for the future of the company.
“In terms of future hardware, absolutely I think we’re going to see more console hardware down the road,” Spencer told the publication when asked about the potential of an all-digital road for console gaming.
“Just like in video, just like in music it’s not that streaming has cut off device innovation. I think we’ll continue to see that and that’s absolutely what we’re planning for.”
The news is welcome to many, as it’s been a concern that consoles will be all-digital by the time the next next-gen consoles release.
The global pandemic has seen more and more people choose to purchase their games digitally as opposed to buying a physical disc. Not only has this been easier for those confined to their houses in lockdown, but it’s also much more efficient for the developers and publishers themselves. The shift has left some concerned that physical games could be on their way out.
Earlier this year, Frontier Developments’ CEO David Braben spoke at GamesIndustry.biz’s Investment Summit Online, where he said that physical games could be out of the picture in just two years’ time.
“We’ve seen an acceleration in the transition from physical to digital,” he said. “That is a good thing. It’s probably two to three years before physical more or less goes away, and it’s probably accelerated that timescale a bit.”
Thankfully it seems that might not be the case for Xbox. Let’s hope physical games stick around for a long, long time!
Featured Image Credit: Microsoft