Summary
- Walmart will reportedly be disposing of physical copies of Xbox Series X exclusive game Starfield, marking down the price to $0.03 and implementing a point of sale block.
- The majority of Starfield players already purchased the game digitally, so Walmart's decision won't impact the game's future or Bethesda's plans to support it.
- This is part of the larger trend of retailers moving away from physical media, which raises concerns about game preservation efforts.
It looks as though Walmart will begin throwing out physical copies of Xbox Series X console exclusive game Starfield starting early next week. With the rise of digital media, physical media sales have been steadily shrinking. Major retailers have started pulling out of the physical media business entirely, with Best Buy recently ending its sales of DVD and Blu-Ray discs.
There have been rumblings that Walmart is preparing to make its way out of the physical media business as well. A report from last year suggested that Walmart was going to stop selling physical Xbox games, and now there is more evidence to back up those claims. Some Walmart employees have shared memos on social media revealing the order to dispose of Xbox Series X console exclusive game Starfield.
Starfield's Complete Timeline Explained
Starfield has an extensive history, but a quick look at its complete timeline can provide some useful context for the game's world and characters.
According to the memo, Walmart is going to mark down physical copies of Starfield from $69.99 to $0.03 starting Monday, January 22. A "point of sale block" is planned to go into effect that same day, meaning customers will not be able to actually purchase the game. However, it's possible some could get lucky and manage to snag Starfield for next to nothing regardless of the point of sale block. In any case, the plan is to gather copies of Starfield and dispose of them by Monday, February 5. While it's possible this memo has been faked, reliable insider Wario64 said that they saw the same memo from another source.
As far as Starfield goes, this development doesn't have any bearing on the game's future. The vast majority of Starfield players purchased the game digitally, either through Steam or Xbox, or played the game using their Xbox Game Pass subscription. Regardless of Walmart allegedly getting rid of the game's physical copies, Bethesda still has big plans to support the game throughout 2024. A huge new Starfield update is currently being beta tested on PC before rolling out to the masses, and there's also the game's first major DLC to look forward to as well.
While details remain scarce, Bethesda is working on Starfield's Shattered Space expansion. Time will tell exactly what Shattered Space brings to the table, but fans will find out more information in the months ahead.
Beyond more Starfield updates, the future will also bring with it the continued demise of physical media. This isn't great for game preservation efforts, but it's an inevitable consequence of the rise of digital media. Starfield is the start, but one has to wonder how long it will take for Walmart to move completely away from selling physical media at its stores.
Starfield
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- How Long To Beat
- 20 Hours
- File Size Xbox Series
- 101 GB (September 2023)
- Metascore
- 86
