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Digital-Only Console Sales Numbers Are Bad News for Physical Media

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On April 23, 2025

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Summary

Digital-only Xbox Series X/S consoles have outsold disk-drive versions by 75% in 2025.
The popularity of services like Xbox Game Pass has likely inspired the recent shift towards digital gaming.
Rumors suggest Microsoft may eliminate physical disks for its next console.

Digital-only Xbox Series X/S consoles are reportedly eclipsing their disk-drive counterparts by a large margin in 2025 so far. Like the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X is available in two styles: one with a traditional physical disk drive that has been on the market since 2020, and a newer, disk-free variant that was released back in October 2024. Meanwhile, the lighter Xbox Series S was always digital only.

The choice between sticking with the traditional physical media of years past and embracing an all-digital format has been a debate among consumers for a long time now, and gamers are no different. While most games are still available as disks, an increasing number of players are instead either buying their video games on a digital platform or subscribing to a monthly service like Xbox Game Pass. Rumors have even started to claim that retail chains like Target are planning to do away with selling physical games altogether by the end of 2025.

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This could very well be a sign of the times, as a recent report suggests that more people are buying the disk-drive-free versions of the Xbox Series X/S. This comes from Circana’s Mat Piscatella, who revealed that 75% of Xbox console sales have been for the digital-only Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X variants in 2025 so far. This is no small accomplishment given that the white, disk-free Xbox Series X has only been on the market for a few months.

Digital-Only Consoles Take the Lead in Sales

Many factors could play into the apparent preference for digital-only Xbox systems. The new, disk-free Xbox Series X is slightly cheaper than the one with a disk drive, and Xbox Game Pass has become increasingly popular over the last few years thanks to granting players access to a vast and ever-growing library of titles for a small monthly fee. Microsoft itself might be aware of all this, as recent rumors suggest that it could do away with physical disks completely for its next console.

This shift to digital-only gaming isn’t only happening among Xbox customers, as Piscatella also reports that half of 2025’s PlayStation 5 console sales have been for disk-free versions like the PlayStation 5 Pro that launched back in November. Many gamers prefer physical media for game preservation purposes, but it seems that the tide could be shifting toward a digital-only future if these latest numbers are any indication. Of course, it should be pointed out that Mat Piscatella’s claims aren’t the actual sales numbers from Microsoft, so only time will tell how the rest of 2025 will play out in terms of which game format consumers are gravitating toward.