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[ComputerBlue]

Been hearing this shit for years. It's not happening anytime soon.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Happened close to a decade ago for me.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

The industry would lose millions of buyers which=billions of revenue.

 

[MilkLizard]

If the whole world has reliable and fast enough internet without caps in 2-3 years, sure. But since that ain‘t happening, physical media won‘t go away.

 

[kiphalfton]

Imbecile is an apt word to use. I've seen the same people spout 'anti-consumer' in various threads and then come to this one and want to limit the options available to consumers. It just goes to show that some people will worship a company no matter how rotten their goals are... just to get a short lived 'win'.

If people want to go digital, then all the power to them. I mean don't get me wrong if a killer deal comes around for a digital, I won't turn my nose up to it, BUT I don't want to be forced into choosing JUST digital.

Also those people comparing to the digital movement of PC it's a completely different story, and an apples to orange type comparison. The physical discs were used to install the game, then you connect to the internet to use the key code, and then the disc was useless. No point distributing games that way as it's a waste of resources.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Been hearing this shit for years. It's not happening anytime soon.

Yep. The infrastructure is simply not there. Companies aren’t going to limit their sales to people with good internet, there are many rural and developing countries that don’t have significant internet and still purchase games.

I am hopeful that PS5 will move back to cartridges, ala Switch.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Sure just like consoles we meant to die 2 generations ago... and cloud gaming was meant to be replacing everything.
Physical games are here for another generation at least...
And I bought every game this gen digitally. Physical games ain't going anything for the next 6-7 years

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Lol I remember before this gen started people were saying it was gonna be the last gen with physical. These people keep pushing the goalpost further and further hoping next time they'll be right.

idk about that, I'm sure a lot of people like myself have ended up going all digital for their systems for a while now. Had my Switch since day one and I've yet to get a physical game on the thing and same for my xbox.

 

[stonedwal]

I'd prefer not to go digital only on a closed platform, but expect that my hand will be forced one day. Sony and Microsoft have been a little better about ongoing digital availability than I had expected, but that won't last forever.

 

[Gamer79]

It's important to note who this is coming from. Frontier is indie, the whole move to digital only has long ago started. How many AA indie games do you actually see in retail?
And the reason is that for an indie who sells maybe 500.000 copies there is no scenario where producing discs for 250.000 people and shipping them around the world is an enticing idea that makes you more money.
The majority of console games already never see a retail release. And for big publishers there will be a time where physical makes no sense either. Consoles are just following PC ten years delayed. When is the last time a retail game did not need a beefy day 1 patch? Physical releases are an illusion. In a few years the physical copy of a game will be nothing but a card with a download code. Just like PC.

As long as the consumer wants it there will be a market for it. I agree the physical market will shrink but here will be enough demand to keep it around for over a decade IMO. stream I can say the same for the DVD/blu ray industry. Sure netflix and 1,000 other streaming service dominate how people watch movies. That being said there is enough of a market that they still sell DVD's, Blu rays, etc. I can't tell you the last time I held a DVD but they are still around.

 

[mejin]

Maybe for Xbox. Gamepass is killing it.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

If I had a internet that could easily download like 60 gigs in a hour i would've gone at least 75% digital this gen.

I have a lot of digital games on my PS4, any fighting/multiplayer game i always go digital, if there's a game i'm not too hot on and it gets a good deal on PSN/E-shop I'll get digitally.

 

[Holammer]

Physical's been dying for a couple of years now and it's plain to see when Activision, EA and others reported increased digital sales. Last year the share of digital on Playstation was higher (53%) than physical for the first time and it's only going to increase because it's convenient. People wanting physical will shrink and eventually reach a breaking point where it's no longer economically viable to cater to them.
So enjoy your last pieces of plastic tat you can have on the shelf along with your funko pops. If you're lucky you may be able to buy Limited Run Games and platform agnostic deluxe editions.

 

[Zog]

Doubt it. Not that I give a shit about little round pieces of plastic myself.

Do you care about losing your games whenever the store shuts down or worse, when a publisher wants a game pulled down or altered for licensing reasons?

I buy all my new games from Wal Mart for $10 cheaper than the retail price. On the Switch for example, I bought all 4 Pokemon games (I collect them), Link's Awakening remaster, Animal Crossing and today Xenoblade Chronicles for $50 each. See, you can get physical games for cheaper EVEN ON LAUNCH DAY.

People who think that once there is only ONE place to buy games (on consoles) that prices will go down are mistaken.

 

[Brofist]

Do you care about losing your games whenever the store shuts down or worse, when a publisher wants a game pulled down or altered for licensing reasons?

I buy all my new games from Wal Mart for $10 cheaper than the retail price. On the Switch for example, I bought all 4 Pokemon games (I collect them), Link's Awakening remaster, Animal Crossing and today Xenoblade Chronicles for $50 each. See, you can get physical games for cheaper EVEN ON LAUNCH DAY.

People who think that once there is only ONE place to buy games (on consoles) that prices will go down are mistaken.

I own some physical games on the Switch. On the PC it's all digital. I wouldn't want to see physical games go away, but I don't have a personal stake in it.

 

[SaucyJack]

Nah, there’ll be physical media for PS6 gen too

10-15 years maybe

 

[Zog]

There's still time to turn this around. People just have to stop buying digital and start buying physical when possible.

 

[darkinstinct]

As long as the consumer wants it there will be a market for it. I agree the physical market will shrink but here will be enough demand to keep it around for over a decade IMO. stream I can say the same for the DVD/blu ray industry. Sure netflix and 1,000 other streaming service dominate how people watch movies. That being said there is enough of a market that they still sell DVD's, Blu rays, etc. I can't tell you the last time I held a DVD but they are still around.

Mostly because of pricing. You can rent a movie for around $4. You can buy the DVD for $9. You can buy the BD for $20 and the 4KBD for $50. DVD is about the only format that is fairly priced. They are still outselling BDs. Market for physical overall dropped by 50 % over the last seven years and DVD is making up 60 % of the market share still.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Digital sales have been going up for years. Digital went from being a rounding error at the end of PS3/360 to 50%+ of sales, and that’s even before COVID. Once you factor in DLC and all that, it’s more like 90%.

It is why GameStop is struggling so much, half their market disappeared in a few years.

I won't deny that Digital Sale Percentages have gone up in the last few years, but not every country is ready to go all digital yet and 3 years is too soon.

Gamestop took advantage of used game sales for years and only make more money when a New Console is around the corner. Going digital isn't the main cause of their demise but it certainly doesn't help them.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

Thanks. Physical is holding digital back with mandated price parity to keep retail alive and willing to sell games, with street dates that never work, with fixed release dates because of disc production.

Digital is holding gaming back because of its restrictions. Period.

 

[Gamer79]

Mostly because of pricing. You can rent a movie for around $4. You can buy the DVD for $9. You can buy the BD for $20 and the 4KBD for $50. DVD is about the only format that is fairly priced. They are still outselling BDs. Market for physical overall dropped by 50 % over the last seven years and DVD is making up 60 % of the market share still.

Do not disagree but now you just supported my original post.

People buy more DVD"S because the value is better. Despite the fact streaming services dominate how consumers watch content, DVD's are still around.

 

[T_LVPL]

I can’t ever see it just because there’ll always be a large number of people stuck in the past and still buy everything in a shop using cash. The cost of producing and shipping enough copies for them to buy will always be less than the cost of completely losing those sales. a kid can’t unwrap a digital game on christmas or their birthday either. so there’s more lost sales.

 

[Gamer79]

One more fact is no one is pointing out the major NEGATIVES OF DIGITAL ONLY!

1. IF said service you purchased your digital game on shuts down, has an outage, licesense expiration, etc. You no longer have access to the game you purchased.

2. Double Dipping. Look at Nintendo for example the king of double dipping. They sell the same games to the same consumers on different platforms. If you bought a game on ps4 who knows if it will b eompatible on the ps6. With a phycial copy you can atleast secure a legacy platform to play said game.

3. Pricing: Again Nintendo is the devil at this. Their games rarely drop in price. Launch Switch games are still selling at $59.99 plus tax over here. The consumers loses.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

People who are cheering and embracing and all digital future obviously have NO IDEA what they are really getting into. Game companies are not your friends and only care about making money at your expense and their benefit.

Why do you think companies like Microsoft was pushing for 24/7 check in, streaming and DRM for example? This will only open the proverbial floodgates to that crap gradually. Prices will inevitably increase with no competition and other anti-consumer tactics will materialize on all of us. Sacrificing our freedom and choices all for convenience? Not worth it imo.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Agreed. Many of us will keep physical alive simply for the rights. I just don't see it going away in our lifetime as we still see Music CDs, Blurays etc. Yet clearly gaming is the one that increases in space exponentially as much as it does.

Who out here is looking to pay MORE MONEY for LESS RIGHTS?

If anyone really wants to see what all digital looks like, tell them look up Call Of Duty prices on Steam lol

and yet..

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Call of Duty: Ghosts - PlayStation 4

Yep. This is the primary reason I will not embrace an all digital future. Why in the world would you want to pay more for the same game? Is convenience that important to you where you are spending that much additional money? If the digital version is still $60 with competition, what will happen if there is no competition? $80 for the entire generation with the occasional 10 to 20% off sale.

 

[Night.Ninja]

Once ISP's stop raping people and console DRM is fixed, digital will be the future.