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[Draugoth]

Following the finalization of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Chris Early, Ubisoft’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development, discussed what fans should expect moving forward.

In one statement regarding physical media, Early believes “some people will always want to own the physical disk,” and he doesn’t think it’s going away. He doesn’t feel physical media will ever vanish entirely, even with lower physical sales.

You can view the full quoted response below:

What do you think of the future of physical media in games?
CE: There’s a collector edition market. There’s the aspect of gifting physical items and allowing access for people to be able to easily purchase a game in a store and gift them to their friends or family. Some people will always want to own the physical disk. I just don’t think it’s going away. Do I think physical sales might get lower over time? Sure, but will it ever completely go away? I don’t think so.

The rest of the Q&A primarily regards the effects and expectations of cloud gaming, as Ubisoft’s involvement with the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal concerned that specific field.

You can view the full article via Ubisoft’s official website.

Via NoisyPixel

 

[OCL]

It will go away because Sony Microsoft and Nintendo will not giving us the choice in a few years

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

It will go away because Sony Microsoft and Nintendo will not giving us the choice in a few years

Sony still has a huge market in countries with poor internet connection. They wouldn't just shit on those places like that. Plus physical media is still like 60% of places like Japan...it won't be gone like this.

 

[Krappadizzle]

They'll never go away permanently, but they will be more or less a novelty for a vast majority of the population.

 

[analog_future]

It'll stick around in the same way that CDs and DVDs have stuck around.

Very niche, with many releases not coming to disc at all, but still an option for the small community that demands it.

 

[RoboFu]

If there is now optical drives or cartridge ports then there is no physical games. its really that simple, Maybe they will allow the use of sdcards with games on them in the future just for the 1% with crappy to no internet. or like they have done in the past you buy an official " storage " box that you take to a store and download from a kiosk.

I really don't see any platform holders manufacturing disks for funsies. they may open a way to side load games but disks and optical drives are going bye bye.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Let’s see, both Microsoft and Sony are moving away from disc drives, and brick and mortar retailers are dropping it.

If GameStop dies (which oddly enough people hope for) then that will be the kiss of death.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yeah next consoles will be digital only, a decision the three parties will make unanimously without even talking to one another.

And I will hate them for it. sticking to steam then anyway.

 

[rofif]

My physical games wont. They are here on my shelf and will stay here.
And that's THE WHOLE POINT

 

[acm2000]

Yeah next consoles will be digital only, a decision the three parties will make unanimously without even talking to one another.

And I will hate them for it. sticking to steam then anyway.

hows that physical steam collection going?

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

And I still won't get any Ubisoft games...

 

[Drizzlehell]

Maybe not completely but I kinda see them meeting similar fate to Blu-Ray movies. As more of a rarity that's mostly enjoyed by those who actively want to seek them out.

It's already evident by how barren the video game sections in multimedia markets are these days. Pretty much the only stationary places with a decent selection of games these days are dedicated video game retail chains. I can still remember going to Media Markt about 10-15 years ago and seeing the video game sections absolutely packed with video game related stuff and today the most you can hope for when going there is the latest FIFA and Madden.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I think there's a better chance of us getting a new form of physical media than physical media going away.
A lot of countries can't rely on digital, hell some of them need PS+ Deluxe cause they can't stream.

 

[kaizenkko]

Well, while physical games exist, I will continue buying them.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Oh physical will still be there. It would just be called Collectors Edition and/or limited edition.

And for the first time be a true representation of its name.

And just like it is now, it would just be a way of copying the game to your internal drive.

I have this sneaking suspicion, that when this happens, that physical game, would actually come in the form of a SD card. Being that a 128GB SD card with over 120MB/s read performance can be made for under $6 now. I can see every Physical game being treated like a collector's edition and sold for over $100. Vs the $70 digital prices of the same game.

 

[GamesDontSuck]

Interesting point about gifting games especially at Christmas. That's a big market!

 

[acm2000]

well you will be able to buy a little gift card with a code on like you can already, even after the discs have gone

 

[Kenpachii]

PC says otherwise.

 

[Dis]

They'll never go away permanently, but they will be more or less a novelty for a vast majority of the population.

Yeah Abe’s Oddysee remake is only available through limited run so its $$$ for a copy.

Same for Shin Chan PS4 game..

And Baldurs Gate and iirc Front Mission 1st remake (PS4, PS5) are only physical in Japan.

 

[TGO]

It will go away because Sony Microsoft and Nintendo will not giving us the choice in a few years

They had a chance with the PS5 Slim.
Instead they made it possible to add a Disc drive to a digital one instead while still having a separate default SKU with a Disc Drive.
It seems Sony still sees Disc as the default distribution method for the foreseeable future.
The rest are options.

 

[Mercador]

I wish he was right but no, every physical media is going away. They invested in NFT isn't it?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

There are a lot of reasons physical media will endure.

As many have said, there are still regions that don't have good enough internet for people to rely on digital only, and it is foolish to eschew that revenue.

Also, there is a regulatory aspect of this that platform holders are going to have to worry about. Eventually, platform holders who don't let others onto the platform will be forced to if there isn't some other alternative storefront (non-digital).

The last thing Sony would want to do is have a 3rd party storefront on PS6, that undercuts their royalties, and I'm sure the EU would get there eventually.

 

[March Climber]

They had a chance with the PS5 Slim.
Instead they made it possible to add a Disc drive to a digital one instead while still having a separate default SKU with a Disc Drive.

Probably because they imagined the alternative: A bunch of disc owners whining about the new PS5 slim not being able to play their currently owned games. They avoided this scenario for now.

 

[Sentenza]

Last time I ordered the physical copy of a game it was Darksiders and I eneded up regretting it because the shipment was late and they left me hanging (which wouldn't be a problem with digital ones).
Last time I went to a store looking for a physical copy of a game they didn't have one and I was PESTERED by clerk trying to convince me that the piece of shit he wanted to give me in its place was just as good.

I'm good, I don't need the cardboard box anymore... Nor the empty DVD case with the serial code.

 

[Shubh_C63]

hows that physical steam collection going?

That's the thing. I already have steam all digital and have to wait for sales.
On consoles I can play a new game day 1 and trade it a week later. And then buy cheap again after 2 years when I wants to replay it.

If its like Steam (all digital) then even less incentive for me to buy a console.

 

[Trilobit]

I have never sold a game as I hate selling, but I've bought plenty of used physical games in the past. Most of my PS2 library is from the second hand market and I couldn't have afforded 1/3 of it with my feeble funds as a kid if I bought them at full price. So for the sake of youngsters out there I really hope physical continues to be a thing. I can also imagine that families with children would want to be able to sell their console and games whenever the kids want a new console.

Personally I'll most likely go full digital as I have the funds for it and the digital sales on PS5 have been good enough. The convenience and not having to display my games in the living room are the biggest factors. PS2-era me would have been abhorred by this as I loved to browse my local gameshops for treasures and would proudly display my full game collection besides the TV. But I don't even have those kinds of specialized stores in my city anymore so.

I also wonder about the worldwide reception to fully digital. There are plenty of places that have very poor internet capabilities so I think they would prefer to atleast have a big portion of the data be on their disc and only have to download necessary parts.

 

[Larivel]

I will stick to retro gaming if physical media dies, my backlog is massive anyways.

 

[ProtoByte]

Physical games bring in 10 billion a year. That's not small money in this industry.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It will go away because Sony Microsoft and Nintendo will not giving us the choice in a few years

Considering due to Sony and Microsoft move towards digital Nintendo has almost monopolised retail shelf space…

 

[UltimaKilo]

Aren’t they already dead? Discs nowadays are basically just download codes, sans Nintendo.

 

[mckmas8808]

Let’s see, both Microsoft and Sony are moving away from disc drives, and brick and mortar retailers are dropping it.

If GameStop dies (which oddly enough people hope for) then that will be the kiss of death.

They are? How? All I see is pure support for physical media by Sony.

 

[TGO]

Probably because they imagined the alternative: A bunch of disc owners whining about the new PS5 slim not being able to play their currently owned games. They avoided this scenario for now.

Doesn't the disc drive add-on solve that?
There is no need for two SKU's if you want to push one
The Disc Drive add-on more rectifies being stuck with digital only which I've heard more people complain about.
It's also the way they brand it
The Disc Drive version is the Playstation 5
The Digital is the Digital Edition.
This new Slim model also helps with production and loss as they was losing money on the Digital Edition

the PS5 is covering its own manufacturing costs, though the less expensive and disc-less Digital Edition is still losing money for Sony.

PS5 has only just stopped losing money for Sony – but that's normal

Out of the red

www.techradar.com

I'm sure that change now but we didn't get any reports saying otherwise so this new version probably helps that.

 

[Lunarorbit]

It's not going to go away. It might down shift but too many people enjoy and want physical editions.

Bestbuy getting rid of dvds and blue rays doesn't effect this. Completely different markets.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Ubisoft's interpretation of "physical" game:

 

[SmokedMeat]

They are? How? All I see is pure support for physical media by Sony.

Sony sells a digital only console this gen. Microsoft’s revealed Series X refresh is digital only.

It’s slowly happening. I expect next gen to be it.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Next Nintendo will be physical, but I suspect the PS6 and Xbox 5 will be digital only.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I don't care what these Zoomers think is Rad, you'll never take my big box Amiga Monkey Island 2

Never!

Physical will always exist, in my cupboard! Up yours modern times!!

 

[mckmas8808]

Sony sells a digital only console this gen. Microsoft’s revealed Series X refresh is digital only.

It’s slowly happening. I expect next gen to be it.

But Sony also made a Blu-ray add-on drive. What makes you think they wouldn't just make the PS6 have an extra add-on drive to play physical media games on (at a minimum)?

 

[IntentionalPun]

I think people are too paranoid about this personally.

 

[SmokedMeat]

But Sony also made a Blu-ray add-on drive. What makes you think they wouldn't just make the PS6 have an extra add-on drive to play physical media games on (at a minimum)?

Well, I’m saying PS6 will be the last gen for physical so that’s entirely possible.

The fact that we’re having this conversation which would’ve been unthinkable years ago, speaks volumes.

And often in this industry, once one does something, the others follow.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

They had a chance with the PS5 Slim.
Instead they made it possible to add a Disc drive to a digital one instead while still having a separate default SKU with a Disc Drive.
It seems Sony still sees Disc as the default distribution method for the foreseeable future.
The rest are options.

Five years from now, when the data suggests that the vast majority of PS5 buyers are opting for the discless version of the console and sales of the optional disc drive peripheral is remarkably low, the decision to launch a digital only PS6 and no disc drive peripheral will be easy and justified.

 

[mckmas8808]

Well, I’m saying PS6 will be the last gen for physical so that’s entirely possible.

The fact that we’re having this conversation which would’ve been unthinkable years ago, speaks volumes.

And often in this industry, once one does something, the others follow.

Oh so you are saying the PS7 won't have a disc drive. I'm assuming that console will release around the year 2035. So yeah, many things are possible 12 years from now, so you could be right.

 

[rofif]

Well, while physical games exist, I will continue buying them.

I am 99% physical buyer on consoles. That was 360, ps4 and now ps5. I have a decent amount of physical games and I cherish them.
I will go out of my way to buy physical disc for ps5 even if the game is on pc.
I prefer playing on console recently, I prefer dualsense and most importantly - I like having a disc with access to offline play, 1.0 version and not being attached to account.

PC says otherwise.

It is totally irrelevant to console gaming.
Steam is an open platform. You have access to files, can copy them, look at them, modify, crack.
And Steam also is an open retailer market. You get ton of stores that compete and new games are usually 30-40% heaper on cdkeys at launch.
With PSN, that's all there is. no competition, high prices, one service.

 

[Elder Legend]

Sounds like the Ubisoft leader is out of touch from reality.

 

[TGO]

Five years from now, when the data suggests that the vast majority of PS5 buyers are opting for the discless version of the console and sales of the optional disc drive peripheral is remarkably low, the decision to launch a digital only PS6 and no disc drive peripheral will be easy and justified.

The problem with being on this forum for so long is hearing the same conversations repeated over and over again.
This is the same thing people said when the PSPgo was released, before the PS4 was announced and before the PS5.
They all start the same..
"Five years from now"
It's been over a decade
At least you are closer to it being true

Note.
I don't think we'll have a Digital Only Console
They'll go straight to Streaming.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

The problem with being on this forum for so long is hearing the same conversations repeated over and over again.
This is the same thing people said when the PSPgo was released, before the PS4 was announced and before the PS5.
They all start the same..
"Five years from now"
It's been over a decade
At least you are closer to it being true

The PSP-GO was ahead of its time.

 

[AJUMP23]

Can we get meta physical games.

 

[brenobnfm]

It will go away because Sony Microsoft and Nintendo will not giving us the choice in a few years

yeah genius Sony apparently just wanna gave up the shitload of money they make from physical sales

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Ubisoft is a European company, they know physical isn't going anywhere

Only Americans who literally have never been outside the US actually think physical is gonna die tomorrow