Gameware Is Boycotting Xbox Systems After the Recent Game Pass Announcement
While Microsoft may have dropped a huge bomb on Xbox fans around the world just a few days ago, not everyone is happy with the news. In fact, an Austrian retailer is flat out refusing to sell Xbox consoles following the recent Game Pass announcement.
Just a few days ago we told you about Microsoft’s big reveal to bring popular first-party games, like Sea of Thieves or State of Decay 2, to the growing library of titles available with the Xbox Game Pass subscription on the same day they launch for everyone else. Aaron Greenberg has since clarified that Xbox Game Pass members will also be able to play Xbox Play Anywhere titles on their PC. And all of this comes at no extra cost to the regular subscription fee of $9.99 per month! While this is exciting news for Xbox fans around the world, the same cannot be said about retailers.
In response to the news, a popular gaming retailer in Austria, Gameware, has decided they will no longer sell Xbox consoles. Gameware says they “don’t understand why one should still sell Microsoft consoles which bring zero profit and only expenditure, if Microsoft alone then wants to profit off of the sales of software.” This retailer from Innsbruck, Austria has been in business since 1989 and has almost 375,000 customers according to a translated version of the German article by a Resetera user. Gameware had this to say to Microsoft, “If you want to do business alone, you should do the work alone.” You can find the full interview here, although unless you’re familiar with German, you’ll have more than a tough time trying to read it.
It will be interesting to see if other retailers will follow suit, considering this is just one more step towards digitization. What do you think about the move from Gameware? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and keep it locked for updates!