Which in turn would reinforce the habit of downloading games rather than buying physical media.
Not sure if I'll ever get on board with it, indeed if I don't I suspect I'll end being pushed off the Xbox platform.
When Xbox One was launched, Microsoft wanted to tightly control and even prevent via DRM the resale of games. A move that was unpopular and they ended up backtracking on.
It seems to me the DRM issues when Xbox One was launched preventing sharing / resale of games is being replaced by trying to encourage everyone to use download only games rather than physical media. Meaning Microsoft / Xbox get to control (and kill) the resale market that way instead.
About GamePass
In case you've not come across it (unlikely if you're into Xbox or Windows gaming), Xbox game pass is a subscript that allows members access to a library of games to download and play as they feel like it. Without buying the physical media.On the face of it Xbox GamePass seems like a good deal. Pay a monthly fee and get access to countless games to download directly to your Xbox.
At the time of writing (January 2022) prices for either (Windows) PC or Xbox membership are £7.99 a month. Or £10.99 a month to have access on both platforms.
Costs of downloaded games on Xbox vs physical media
Now Xbox would have you believe GamePass is a bargain based on price of buying the games seperately. This might be true of top titles in the first months of release and you spend A LOT of time playing.£7.99 for a month of access to that new AAA game? Doesn't sound so bad compared to the new price of a game more like £50+. Of course physical media games don't hold those prices long. In the Xbox store however, they remain costly a lot longer.
| Title | Compare date | Release date | Xbox store download |
Ebay UK (used disc) |
Ebay UK sold (new disc) |
Amazon UK (new disc) |
| Gears 5 | 19th Jan 2022 | Sept 2019 | £34.99 | £2 - 12 | £4-12 | £20 |
| Battlefield 2042 | 19th Jan 2022 | Nov 2021 | £59.99 | £23 | £33-40 | £40.95 |
| Jumangi: The Video Game | 19th Jan 2022 | Nov 2021 | £34.99 | £10-15 | £10-22 | £22 |
| State of Decay 2 : Juggernaut edition | 19th Jan 2022 | May 2018 | £24.99 | £5-6 | £6-7 | £7 |
| Gears of war 3 (360 game) | 19th Jan 2022 | Mar 2012 | £6 | £2.50-3.50 | £5-7 | £23 (!) |
| GTA 5 | 19th Jan 2022 | Nov 2014 | Not available | £12 | £18 | n/a used only |
| GTA 5 premium edition | 19th Jan 2022 | Dec 2017 | £24.99 | £14 | £19 | £15-21 |
| Fallout 4 | 19th Jan 2022 | Nov 2015 | £15.74 | £2.20 | £5 | £5 |
| Titanfall 2 | 19th Jan 2022 | Oct 2016 | £19.99 | £3-4 | £3-6 | £7 |
| Sunset Overdrive | 19th Jan 2022 | Oct 2014 | £14.99 | £3-4 | £6 | £7 |
Ebay prices are for recent (at time of comparison) completed sales.
Ebay used prices must be for items 'very good' or 'like new'.
Ebay prices include postage to mainland UK.
So hopefully it's clear to see from the few samples in the table above how the download games don't seem to drop as much in price as their physical counterparts. It should also be clear that with physical media you always have the option of selling it or swapping with a mate so it still has some value. Once a download game is purchased it has zero onward value.