Update 18:30 BST: Another Bethesda support account has clarified that the Starfield: Constellation Edition won't include a game disc, coming with a download code instead. Other Bethesda accounts are yet to comment on the matter, and we will update this report as the story progresses.
Starfield is the latest - and possibly largest - game to leave discs behind. As confirmed by Bethesda support, physical copies of Starfield will just be a code in a box, making it pretty much the same process as buying it on the Xbox store.
Worse yet, many online storefronts don't currently have a warning in place for this, so anyone who's preordered a physical copy will be in for a shock on launch day. Understandably, fans are already frustrated, particularly as we are being told the news through a reply on the Bethesda support Twitter account, not during any of Starfield's recent promotional events.
Just after the publication of this article, the tweet was deleted, but not before many concerned fans saw the news (and saved it via the Wayback Machine). TheGamer has reached out to Bethesda for comment, as the response may have been made in error, and there will be a physical release after all.
Yet given the rather definitive wording of the deleted tweet, that's looking pretty unlikely. It could just be that Bethesda was planning to announce this closer to launch, which is set for September 6.
If this proves to be true, then Starfield will be far from the first game to leave discs behind - but it may be the most significant game to do so. It was recently revealed that there wouldn't be any physical copies of Alan Wake 2 at all, as it seems the gaming industry is slowly ditching physical launches altogether. This means players won't really own their games, simply purchasing the ability to download them until storefronts inevitably shut down sometime in the future.
It's worth pointing out that Bethesda got itself in trouble with this before, previously announcing that Redfall wouldn't get a disc release. The studio then walked back on this, saying that this would only apply to the PC version, which is typical for the industry. If it turns out to be a case of miscommunication once again, that will sure be something.
With all that being said, it also won't be totally surprising to see Bethesda break into digital-only gaming through Starfield. Like all of its new games, it will be a straight-to-Game Pass release, which will be how many players pick up the game at launch. Of course, it's also an Xbox console exclusive - a platform in which many have the cheaper, disc-less version of the console. With these factors in mind, it's possible that Bethesda didn't project physical copies selling particularly well in comparison to digital, and decided to go with the cheaper option of putting digital download codes in the boxes instead.