Xbox’s future is growing more uncertain as time goes on as major retailers are no longer stocking consoles or even games for the platform. Xbox is one of the big three platforms in the gaming industry and was once a strong leader during the Xbox 360 era. However, the Xbox One era had a rocky launch due to bad messaging during its reveal. An emphasis on an always online system, Kinect, television, and more all strayed away from what gamers were looking for at the time. Things somewhat recovered later in the generation thanks to innovative new ideas like Game Pass, but unfortunately, that may be part of the reason why things are now on shaky ground.
Xbox has been driving a lot of value towards its players, but it isn’t resulting in the growth that Microsoft seems to want. When paired with price increases on Xbox consoles, it’s even more difficult to attract new players. Ultimately, this year has been rough for Xbox when it comes to any kind of stability. There have been multiple console price hikes, a failed attempt to raise games to $80, and a 50% markup on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It’s not great and it seems like things aren’t getting much better.
As first reported by The Gamer, Target stores have seemingly stopped carrying Xbox consoles and games. The entire display cases for games have been taken off the storefront, and remaining titles have been moved to clearance. As for the consoles, it’s unclear what happened to them, but they don’t seem to be in stock either. Brand new releases like Battlefield 6 still remain on sale for Xbox, only holding space in a much smaller new release display mixed in with PlayStation and Nintendo Switch games.
I was at Target the other day and noticed the Xbox stuff was gone, save for some accessories and digital game cards that take up minimal shelf space. I also called some local Target stores around me, which corroborated the lack of Xbox hardware and games, though the employees weren’t specifically told why and aren’t sure if they will be returning. The Xbox Series X has been removed from sale on Target’s website both for in-store purchase and online shipping, but the Series S does appear to remain in-stock online for shipping.
The report also mentioned Walmart is undergoing the same thing, but if it is, it doesn’t appear to be as widespread. Purely anecdotally, my local Walmart stores are still carrying Xbox products. Whether or not that changes anytime soon remains to be seen, but Target appears to be at a more significant and larger scale. Ultimately, Xbox’s struggles seem to continue with this new move. We’ve reached out to Target for clarity on the matter.
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