That was a rumor that turned out to be unfounded. The retailers in question may have been limited to individual stores deciding to change what they stock, rather than it being a brand-wide policy. Both the retailers and Microsoft have since announced that they are still being offered at retail. Long term strategy for Xbox and hardware in general is anybody's guess, but there are no big changes for the time being.
Whenever I hear wild rumors that are out of the ordinary, I usually wait 24 hours to see if there's any actual clarification on what's going on. That usually gives some time for the dust to settle and the truth to come out.
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