I'm sure those companies feel totally sad to lose 0,5% of their current audience with going full digital in the future so that we need to talk even more about this big problem.

I am sure Todd and all the top execs are thinking, DAMN, I new we could go higher.  If MS thought they were worth 10, they could have probably gone for another 3 bill on top.

Firstly, I'd wait for the full picture before panicking so much about this. They are making a digital only Series X. It's literally the same console as the Series X but with a few minor improvements to minor things...People have asked for a digital Series X for years now. Absolutely nobody says that Sony is abandoning discs because they made a digital only PS5, Lol. We have no idea if the original Series X will be discontinued but even if it is, your discs are still going to work on it the Series X that you have, Lol. Unless publishers decide to stop doing physical releases but that is literally already starting to happen, one of the most anticipated titles of 2023 is releasing digital only and barely anyone cares. We also don't know if Xbox won't just release a disc drive adapter for the console/detachable disc drive as Sony is doing for their rumoured new PS5 model.

But the fact is that more and more publishers will move to digital only, it is the future whether we like it or not. It's just a question of whether you're willing to accept it or throw away dozens of years of gaming because of it. Digital ratios are dramatically increasing among all publishers every single year and Xbox's digital ratios are higher than most thanks to Game Pass and other factors. Sony will eventually join Xbox, I've no doubt about that, they're already experimenting with optional disc drives, it won't be long before the drive goes completely because they're catering to a vocal minority market. The Series S has been a success for Microsoft and I'm sure they have data which backs up that most of their players buy digitally.

Also, Physical Media = Game Preservation. PC is the best platform for game preservation and yet it is massively skewed towards digital, Valve is better at preservation than any of the console manufacturers digital stores. Nobody would accuse Valve of not caring about preservation because they don't sell physical discs, Lol. Which are just license keys at this stage thanks to the amount of day one patches, post launch patches, disc installs etc. One day, your discs are going to stop working on an Xbox Series console too, they won't last forever and the Xbox won't always support them, all you will have is a useless disc, especially if Xbox switches to ARM.

Game preservation won't be achieved through physicals discs, nor does it need to be, it's a losing battle and a distraction to where preservation folk should be focusing their effort because eventually everyone will start abandoning physical media, every major corporation. Digital preservation should be the focus and emulation and PC are currently the best places for that right now. Push for more digital preservation.

You can rip the band aid off and encourage more digital preservation but whether you like it or not, physical media is decreasing in relevancy and ultimately the loud vocal minority won't be listened to anymore because the vast majority will be digital. It won't be just Microsoft. And are you really willing to throw away dozens of years of gaming because you can't get a physical disc? Physical discs that also don't last forever and can degrade. It's a bit weird because Microsoft has done more for preservation than Sony and Nintendo combined, Lol.

Even more maps, Lol.

That must be like 25-30 this season alone

Arguably most games out there these days are digital only. I mean, with the 360 shutting down, many are concerned about a little over 200 games that were completely digital being lost to time. And that was 10 years ago when the 360 waned down.

Today, it's mainly just the AAA games that receive physical copies, which indie game releases far outweigh the amount of AAA releases, and rightfully so. Even Nintendo has released some digital only games for some of their IPs like that Super Kirby Clash game alongside their "99" series.

So it was only a matter of time before AAA games started trending in that direction as well. This year is Alan Wake II and Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Next year and the year after, the trend will only continue. Who knows, by the end of this console generation, we may be in all digital gaming space.

Hell, the biggest games in the industry like Apex Legends, Fortnite, Destiny 2, etc. you're never going to be able to find physically because they're FTP or have been supported for so long like Rainbow Six: Siege, and have since been updated for modern consoles that it's now pointless to get the disc. 

Hard to say. The divergence in value might be a reason MS decided to buy them. It's 1 thing to value a company as X and buy it at X. However when you can buy that company for less than you value it, it makes things easy. That also means that Bethesda values itself less. 

Also, hard to say in this context if the value attached to Bethesda was under the context of the anticipated merger with MS at the steering wheel and the synergy it would create for other MS products vs. the actual value of the standalone Bethesda. 

What I'd say though is that these slides were never meant for public use and we're missing the full picture.

I still think Microsoft will copy Sony's detachable disc drive solution in some manner for mid-gen but if they don't discontinue the Series X disc model then it's completely irrelevant what they do as it's the same dang console. I do think next gen Xbox will be digital only because by then we're going to be looking at a very small minority of gamers, especially on the Xbox platform.

But I also think the internet would blast Microsoft for it if they went first so perhaps they should wait for Sony to go first, Lmao.

Hard to blame Bethesda for value themselves less at the time. Sale failures of Evil Within 2, Rage 2, Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider, Fallout 76, Prey, and Wolfenstein: Youngblood all within a short amount of time really brought down Bethesda's literal and perceived value. 

Doom Eternal was the only major Bethesda win for a while. Even Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo were moderate successes at best.