Very quickly, digital is becoming a big part of the video game industry. By some estimates, over half of sales are digital now. But there are still people who are buying physical copies, and one thing Microsoft wants you to know for both crossgen and next gen games is they are optimized for the Xbox Series X. In fact, games released on Xbox Series X had massive badge on the front of the box, something the publisher has leaned into quite bit in the marketing. But it seems they’ve decided not to take up so much space up front after all.
It was originally noticed by a poster on the popular ResetERA gaming forums that Xbox Series X boxes no longer had the badge on the front. It was then later confirmed by both Tom Warren of The Verge and industry analyst Daniel Ahmad. Both said that the badge will be moved to the back of the box, with Ahmad even saying he thinks it won’t even be the huge badge anymore and something more subtle (the box arts being shared are not official, but photoshops of examples of what the front will generally look like without the badge).
It’s one of those things that wasn’t a huge deal, but it’s hard to deny that big, green badge wasn’t eye catching for better or for worse.