In recent news, Disney fans from the Land Down Under will soon no longer be able to own physical copies of their favorite media.
By this point, all of us in the Disney community know full well that the Walt Disney Company is currently undergoing significant restructuring. From the 7000-person layoffs that occurred earlier this year to Bob Iger announcing he’s open to selling almost one-third of the Walt Disney Company’s owned assets, there’s a lot of change in the air for Disney.
Disney Makes a Surprising Announcement in the Land Down Under
Outlet Always On reported recently that Disney will “cease all physical media in Australia with the final release to be Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.”
They reported that Australian retailer Sanity announced the change. They shared in a message on their Facebook page, “Farewell to Disney’s physical media in Australia – act fast & don’t miss out on your last chance to own your [favorite] Disney classics, MCU flicks, Star Wars movies & more at Sanity.”
Sanity Clarifies This Change is Real
While this kind of announcement might leave many confused at the turn of events, the retailer took the time to confirm that the post wasn’t a joke or a prank. They followed up in a comment, “To help clear up any confusion or questions. There is no way we would post this if we didn’t know it was happening. Guardians of The Galaxy will be the last preorder.”
As Always On also corroborated, the writer could not find any listings of physical copies of media of recent Disney films like The Little Mermaid on DVD or Blu-Ray on Australian retailer sites, despite those listings existing on retailers’ websites in North America and the European Union.
Trouble in the Magic Kingdom? Disney Tries to Support Streaming Service
While there is no official reason for this stop in sales, one can speculate that Disney is trying to promote its streaming business. This year, we found out Disney lost millions of subscribers on Disney+, perhaps this is an attempt to encourage users to focus on the company’s streaming service.
Always On also speculated there has likely been a decrease in physical sales due to the switch to streaming as an industry-wide pattern.
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