By Paula Beaton Over the weekend, socials have been buzzing with news surrounding a new Microsoft job posting for an Xbox role related to physical games.
As shared by Xbox News for Koreans in an X post and reported by Windows Central, the LinkedIn “Physical Games Supply Strategist” job description lists one of the role’s key responsibilities as “overseeing the launch of physical Xbox game releases.”
The X post stated: “It appears that Xbox intends to continue supporting physical game releases in future generations as part of its broader gaming business strategy.”
“The Xbox Games Supply Strategist will coordinate the launch of physical Xbox games across all platforms, lead development & oversee execution of global supply positioning strategies across all stages of the product lifecycle, ensure that inventory is positioned to deliver working capital/cost/service goals, and oversee the sales & channel execution of those games. You’ll work closely with Product Marketing, Finance & various groups within Supply Chain to establish & manage supply and sales plan of record. Every day will bring a new challenge, and you’ll be continually looking for ways to drive business profitability by planning and executing a predictable, reliable & low-cost supply chain.”
Since PlayStation announced its intent to end new releases of physical games by 2028 — a move that’s proved divisive among players — it might come as a relief to Xbox fans that the brand is hiring for roles directly focused on physical game releases. It’s prompted many to speculate that the brand’s next-gen Helix consoles could support discs.
Note, however, that there’s no mention anywhere in the job description about discs, leading Windows Central’s Jez Corden to posit that Xbox next-gen consoles may not support discs at all but may instead offer an alternative, such as the SD cartridges used by competitor Nintendo.
“Indeed, with disc drives for laptops, Blu-ray players, and even CD players being phased out, it doesn’t seem entirely likely to me that Xbox Helix will have a traditional disc drive. But, it increasingly seems like Microsoft may be looking at alternatives. The Nintendo Switch range for example uses SD cartridges to deliver game licenses, and in some cases entire games when the speed is adequate. Could Microsoft be looking to follow suit here?”
Of course, at this point all of this is pure speculation. The only way we will find out what’s happening with Xbox Helix is to wait for its release date — up to that point, any rumors we hear can’t be corroborated.
However, this news does land just a few weeks after Xbox surveyed Insiders to ask if they wanted Project Helix to support physical discs. This latest job posting further demonstrates that physical games will continue to be a key focus for Xbox. Beyond that, we’ll need to wait and see.
Fletcher Wilkinson