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Ubisoft Leader Doesn’t Believe Physical Games Will Go Away
ReBurn
Gold Member
It's estimated that global video game revenues will be over 350 billion globally this year. 10 billion is less than 3% of that. 10 billion isn't small change, but when It comes to trying to capture more lucrative market share companies would likely be willing to stop chasing the piece that's only 2.85% of the market and shrinking every year to focus on something bigger.
Sony is about to release a PS5 revision thats basically a digital edition console disc drive bundle.
That new PS5 disc version doesnt need to exist at launch. Sony will keep pushing physical games. Nintendo too.
Did you miss the Series X refresh leak thats a digital edition console? MS will be the first to go all digital.
This too. The games split heavily favor Sony.
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Rhazer Fusion
Member
Physical will most likely still be around in some way within the next few years and even in the distant future, but in very limited form imo. Unfortunately, the writing is on the wall for an all digital future and it’s obvious that the companies want to do away with physical to get more control over distribution and pricing.
kiphalfton
Member
I have no doubt predatory companies, like limited run games, will release even more games physically and fuck collectors sideways.
Pimpbaa
Member
Hell we might not even have real consoles anymore in a few generations (they will be just streaming devices), physical media will be quite dead by then. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on Switch 2 being the last new console generation with physical media. I guess it depends on what the physical media vs digital ratio is by the end of this gen (PS5/XSX). MS already seems intent on killing off physical this gen (with no disc drive on the new Series X).
Sojiro
Member
Yeeeep. I took have been preparing for this future. Thankfully, I think at least Nintendo will be holding off on that the longest, so it may be a while still.
Naive to think physical games will go away. The majority are still buying physical games for many reasons including cheaper prices, no need to download 50+GB, ability to resell, trade in and share with friends/family and for collecting a tangible item. Also let's not forget that videogames require consoles while movies and music do not, so retailers want physical games and accessories to sell with the consoles Sony and Microsoft need to get to consumers.
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Are you stupid ? If they take away physical disc and force everyone to buy everything on the store they'll make waaaaay more money.
TheThreadsThatBindUs
Member
This is a delusional US-centric view of the market.
When you look at the digital-physical split for game sales in the rest of the world, it's pretty clear Sony and Nintendo won't be foregoing physical media for a long time yet.
MS might, but only because their console sales are either quickly approaching or already essentially irrelevant everywhere outside of the US now.
ProtoByte
Member
You're telling me that global gaming revenue will double what it was in 2022. I will need a source.
Tams
Member
Sony have gone back towards physical media, if only a happy side-benefit, as they now have one PS5 machine which has a default bundle with the disc drive and cover.
Only Microsoft are making sounds of going fully digital and we all know their history there.
Tams
Member
Discs are just so much cheaper to produce though. Ridiculously so.
For the consumer, discs are also much more resilient than solid state storage if handled properly.
STARSBarry
Gold Member
A broken clock is right twice a day.
ReBurn
Gold Member
Business - Gaming nears $350 billion annual revenues, EA exec says
Electronic Arts president of EA Entertainment Laura Miele shares eye-opening figures for the games industry while discussing growth vectors for gaming. The video games industry is bigger than most people realize, commanding revenues of several hundred billion dollars. Every quarter, video...
Video Games - Worldwide | Statista Market Forecast
The Video Games market worldwide is projected to grow by 8.76% (2024-2027) resulting in a market volume of US$363.20bn in 2027.
www.statista.com
Game Industry Usage and Revenue Statistics 2023 - Helplama.com
Favored by young, the gaming industry is growing at fast pace. Check out the latest stats and trends you should about the game industry!
helplama.com
BootsLoader
Banned
Sorcerer
Member
They have to offer the Blu-Ray drive if the plan is to pare down to one sku. They can't screw people over who have physical games if their machines break down. PS6 will most likely be digital only. Backwards compatibility is not something they have to guarantee in that case.
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ProtoByte
Member
I find these projections pretty hard to believe.Business - Gaming nears $350 billion annual revenues, EA exec says
Electronic Arts president of EA Entertainment Laura Miele shares eye-opening figures for the games industry while discussing growth vectors for gaming. The video games industry is bigger than most people realize, commanding revenues of several hundred billion dollars. Every quarter, video...www.neogaf.com
Video Games - Worldwide | Statista Market Forecast
The Video Games market worldwide is projected to grow by 8.76% (2024-2027) resulting in a market volume of US$363.20bn in 2027.
Game Industry Usage and Revenue Statistics 2023 - Helplama.com
Favored by young, the gaming industry is growing at fast pace. Check out the latest stats and trends you should about the game industry!
Newzoo: Revenue across all video game market segments fell in 2022
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inboxNewzoo's latest report says that the video …
www.gamesindustry.biz
That said, assuming that the 100 billion from China projection was true, that'd be supermajority mobile revenue. I also think you're assuming that such growth in the game industry as a whole would not also occur for physical games - and when a market doubles in size, that's doubtful to me.
We'll revisit this when it's all said and done.
negator2vc
Member
Physical games had actual value when games didn't require a day 1 patch just to be playable. And even then DRM free is far more valuable than physical games.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
So why wouldn't the PS6 have a potential add-on Blu-ray drive like the PS5 slim? I'm not sure why you are fighting this possiblity?
Sorcerer
Member
That's probably where the console manufacturers probably want to head in the future. It's as though Sony is hinting at it right now. Even the pricing is a little strange, as it seems to cost you more to get the slim sku with a disc add on than just buying the complete system right now. Sort of a deterrent. I think the only trick is how are they going to cut out retailers? Retailers don't make much on the consoles, they rely on the software (same as the console manufacturers). What incentive will retailers have to sell the machines? Unless the consoles are priced even higher to ensure retailers a better profit margin. Cards don't make much sense when you can just download what you need from home.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
I still believe Sony's move here shows that they are objectively telling gamers that they support disc-based gaming, rather than moving away from it (imo). Had they done what MS is doing (making their slim consoles disc-less), then I'd agree with you. For instance, how will Sony deal with consumers that buy the new PS5-slim and a BR add-on? How will I play my PS5 disc-based games on the PS6?
If they were going disc-less on the PS6, they may as well start that trend now.
Sorcerer
Member
That's an interesting way to look at it. You could be right. I guess time will tell.