ReBurn
Gold Member
There's been a lot of talk On this forum about how people refusing to go digital because they like to own their games. Aside from the fact that physical game ownership hasn't truly been viable since game patches started rolling on Xbox 360 and PS3, a lot of people have held that if the digital marketplaces collapse and online services go offline they'll still be able to play their games. It also has fueled an economy of used game trading and sales that have kept major video game retailers and small independent shops in business for decades.
Now we have the biggest players releasing the lowest cost versions of their hardware without disc drives. This is an active financial incentive for people to move to all digital purchases. What I think is most impactful is that Sony and Microsoft are now doing something that a lot of collectors denied would ever happen. They are de-prioritizing physical media and in the process they are beginning to eliminate game ownership as we know it. I don't think it's a reach to say that this could be the last console cycle that uses physical media.
But more short term is what this means for retail and the used game economy, especially the used economy. I don't think it's reaching to say that there will be considerably fewer used copies of recent games in circulation this generation. People who fund their new purchases by trading used games now have to pay more for hardware to be able to save money on used games. Retailers are going to take a hit on both ends. They'll sell fewer new copies and they'll have fewer used copies available to sell.
So die hard physical only folks, now that we see where Microsoft and Sony are going in regard to prioritization of digital over physical, what do you see changing for you? Do you see the next console cycle after PS5 and XSX eliminating physical media completely?
Now we have the biggest players releasing the lowest cost versions of their hardware without disc drives. This is an active financial incentive for people to move to all digital purchases. What I think is most impactful is that Sony and Microsoft are now doing something that a lot of collectors denied would ever happen. They are de-prioritizing physical media and in the process they are beginning to eliminate game ownership as we know it. I don't think it's a reach to say that this could be the last console cycle that uses physical media.
But more short term is what this means for retail and the used game economy, especially the used economy. I don't think it's reaching to say that there will be considerably fewer used copies of recent games in circulation this generation. People who fund their new purchases by trading used games now have to pay more for hardware to be able to save money on used games. Retailers are going to take a hit on both ends. They'll sell fewer new copies and they'll have fewer used copies available to sell.
So die hard physical only folks, now that we see where Microsoft and Sony are going in regard to prioritization of digital over physical, what do you see changing for you? Do you see the next console cycle after PS5 and XSX eliminating physical media completely?
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