Rumor: Best Buy Could Be Exiting The Physical Media Business

As per a recent report, Best Buy might be abandoning the physical media business for good as early as the end of Q1 2024 (thanks, The Digital Bits). The physical media business includes DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD sales and online sales. While this comes off as a surprise for many, Josh Fairhurst, CEO of Limited Run Games, adds that he has heard rumblings of Walmart dropping physical Xbox games soon as well.

Frequent visitors of Best Buy may not be surprised to see the store abandoning physical releases, as no matter the location, their physical media shelves have gotten emptier as we go on. However, ceasing online sales as well appears to be the bigger shock. This could mark one of the most significant events in the era of drastic decline in physical media.

I would expect to see this trend continue in 2024. I've heard rumblings that Wal-Mart is dropping physical Xbox games soon, and I have to imagine further cuts to physical gaming sections will be made as we get deeper into next year. https://t.co/iKIEaDEGmf

— Josh Fairhurst (@LimitedRunJosh) October 12, 2023

Another unfortunate piece of news was shared by Josh Fairhurst, who has heard about Walmart dropping physical Xbox games pretty soon. This could be followed by more cuts to the physical gaming media as we go deeper into 2024. Walmart is one of the largest retail sellers of Blu-ray, DVD and 4K releases, enjoying over 45% of the market share. Another Twitter user added to this rumor with their finding.

I spoke to a Walmart manager at a Mississauga Walmart here in Canada a few weeks ago. He had told me that they were already barely ordering any Xbox games and would probably stop completely sooner rather than later,” says Mike Falkingham.

It should still be noted that both the Best Buy and Walmart rumors come from separate sources and should be taken with a grain of salt as we cannot confirm the validity of either. But since the end of Q1 2024 is closer than ever, it should be verified or debunked sooner than later. For the uninitiated, the first quarter of 2024 in the US runs from October 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

The days of the Golden Age of DVD and Blu-ray are long gone, and now, we are seeing a massive increase in retailers and video game publishers announcing digital-only releases. Although many sources of physical discs of specific titles are still available, it has become quite expensive. Even so, if there is a title you love, perhaps now is the best time to purchase the disc and preserve it to the best of your abilities.

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Best Buy is an American multinational retailer that started as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music in 1966. It is the largest specialty retailer in the US and was even ranked 72 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of US corporations by total revenue. The retail store has become a major source of purchasing physical and online media releases.