343 Industries clarifies: Halo Wars 2 for Windows 10 "retail plans have shifted", will not be sold outside Europe

As we heard last month from the folks at THQ Nordic, the upcoming real-time strategy title Halo Wars 2’s Windows 10 version would be coming to brick-and-mortar stores worldwide upon the games release. At the time, we saw both the Ultimate and Standard Edition boxes, and had confirmation that the hard-copy disc version of Halo Wars 2 for Windows 10 would include a code to redeem digitally that would enable the game’s Xbox Play Anywhere functionality.
While the game will still be available in-store and include the aforementioned digital redemption code, a member on the Halo Waypoint forums specified the regions that will see the game’s physical release later this month. The forum member, going by the name ske7ch, wrote that “our retail partners and Microsoft has made the decision to focus the release of the physical retail version to Europe only.” The post continues, saying that THQ Nordic are working to make the necessary changes to the retail copy’s launch “smooth for our customers,” and that they “apologize to any customers affected by the change in our retail plans, and thank everyone for their continued support.”
While it’s likely that many worldwide Windows 10 users will be disappointed to not have the chance to purchase the game in its special hard-copy packaging, it’s good to see the physical release continuing for Europe rather than being nixed entirely. Should details change, we’ll keep you updated.
Source: Waypoint Forums