Sony say "fuck consumer choice. We want all of the money!" .

[MrBiron 1,527]

https://kotaku.com/sony-ending-discs-for-all-playstation-games-starting-2028-2000711927

 

They've decided to stop producing physical discs for games starting in 2028. 

Because fuck your customers, right? 

This means that they will kill of 2nd hand game sales and lending games to your friends or family. Which means themselves and publishers will get a shitload more money.

Microsoft could well follow suit with their next console. If they're smart then they should keep the disc drive and it'll pull some customer away from Sony. Also, if the rumours are true that the next Xbox will basically be a PC with access to game stores like Steam or Epic, then that will be the console to get. At least that way you'll be able to get games at decent prices.

[crispymorgan 1,076]

Controversial opinion.  I don’t care. Physical version of AAA games have been gone for years.  The disc you get may as well be a drinks coaster.  It’s nothing more than a token to say “download the game”. Nothing runs from disc, and the version you play is a patched version that doesn’t mirror the disc data.  

 

the payoff for Sony is you can’t sell digital.  If you want to play the game, you must buy a copy.

moving physical units costs money, so it’s no surprise in this climate they are shying away from it.

the move towards games as a service will probably move towards the subscription model, even owning digital versions will become less common.

 

 It’s following tv/dvd habits.

 

 The real question is, do we need a PlayStation 6?  For the first time, graphics aren’t holding us back.  we should  prioritise gameplay.  You can even buy brand new mega drive games.  

[J4MES OX4D 10,497]

Modern gaming is so garbage that there really isn't any title which I want to own the physical version of now.  Also digital prices drop so much on PC that it is way cheaper than what the pre-owned market used to be. Most physical games these days typically require day one updates and some even contain blank discs where the game needs to be downloaded from scratch anyway.  Digital libraries just feel more convenient now especially when it comes to managing hundreds of games and I don't really mind not having the opportunity to sell used titles because many games just feel like consumables now. 

 

I actually think console gaming has much greater concerns with value and sustainability now. I could sell my first gen PS5 second hand for practically the same price I paid for it during the pandemic new. The price rises are utterly insane especially on such dated and inferior hardware. The next gen is inching towards the £1000 mark which puts it slightly behind mid-range PC's that could comfortably play a lot of titles in 4K 100fps+. There's also the subscription models, online premiums and top-end digital pricing. The future does look bleak especially with the amount of AI and UE5 slop. 

[MrBiron 1,527]

The main issue is pricing. With physical copies there was competition between them and digital games. Now if it's all digital then publishers can price games however they want and there's nothing the consumer can do about it. 

[Luseth 2,230]

4 hours ago, crispymorgan said:

Controversial opinion.  I don’t care. Physical version of AAA games have been gone for years.  The disc you get may as well be a drinks coaster.  It’s nothing more than a token to say “download the game”. Nothing runs from disc, and the version you play is a patched version that doesn’t mirror the disc data.  

 

 

That's not accurate I don't believe is it? Quite a lot of games still contain a full game albeit without day 1 patches. You generally install the game from it and play from your hard drive admittedly and I think live service games also skew the figures. For example Ratchet and Clank Rift apart, Astro Bot, God of war ragnorok, Spiderman 2 could all be installed and played with just your console and the physical game from start to finish without ever needing an internet connection. The games that do generally follow the practice of a disc being just a download key are typically your Fifa's and Call of Duty's, companies that you would not really be surprised by this. The majority of game 'sales' now are also likely to be live service games which are generally only bought digitally, your fortnites, your Warzones and such which are also notably free and what I think is a big thing is they are not showing what their breakdown is, I suspect DLC's, micro transactions and such may also figure into their figures. Single player titles are much closer to 50% physical and 50% digital sales.

 

15% of all new game sales are still bought brand new and physical, that is quite a chunk of your fan base to alienate. It also does not include second hand sales so that percentage could be skewed the wrong way. All this is targeting is maximising profit and nothing today with improving things generally. Oh look at us we are doing this because we are following sales trends when in reality it's losing second hand game sales, it's the cost of manufacturing the disc, the case and paying someone to create art for it or layout the casing, the cost of transporting etc etc, all that will now go into the profit that they are making, it's not suddenly going to see a price drop of £5 on each game say because they are all now digital. 

 

I get that the trend is currently towards digital only however I don't think you will see the same moral compass from Sony as we have with say Valve, only this week have they also said that many user's won't be able to watch a number of digital films that they have bought and paid for on their consoles. With that in mind if they can do that with any digital content (which their T's & C's allow) there is also the preservation argument whereby we could see games literally disappear and become inaccessible by anyone at some point in the future. Your digital library with Sony won't be as secure as say your steam library, there is every likelihood that in the future you paying £70 for a game is so you can use it for up to 2 years and then you lose access or some other crap.

 

Even following the TV / film industry with how prevalent subscriptions have been with Netflix, Disney etc they have all opted to retain physical copies for people to purchase, I could still go in HMV (surprisingly still exists) and buy a physical blu-ray film, similarly we still get physical cd's.

For me and a few people I know now, we buy more games digitally yes however the plus of owning consoles is having the option of physical titles as well. If I am only going to be buying digital games moving forwards it will more likely be on PC. I can get mainly the same games, I can generally buy them cheaper, I have the options of what type of device I want 'Lots of power with a desktop, a portable hand held or something in the middle'. A lot of people own consoles for physical titles or exclusives in addition to their PC and such.

 

What I also find mad is the number of people who just accept this saying ah it doesn't bother me or in some instances I have seen online where people are getting irrate or arsey with those who aren't keen on going digital only. Neither do starving children in parts of the world but it should because it affects other people unnecessarily (appreciate that this is a bit more of a blunt way to say it 😄 ) It's classic case of 'I'm alright Jeff'. If people want to play and enjoy a game they way they do why should it be ok to take that away just to give more profit to the shareholders and such?

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,497]

6 hours ago, MrBiron said:

The main issue is pricing. With physical copies there was competition between them and digital games. Now if it's all digital then publishers can price games however they want and there's nothing the consumer can do about it. 

Hopefully more retailers will enter this space if it's going digital only. AAA publishers get ripped off by Microsoft and Sony relentlessly now so if comparable sites to the likes of Humble Bundle, Greenmangaming, Fantatical, WinGameStore, Gamesplanet, 2Game etc... enter the fray and buy keys/licences at a wholesale level then maybe there will be more competition in this space and gamers will get a better deal. I've picked up so many £50 games elsewhere for way less than £15 which were still £20+ discounted on Steam. Console needs to create non-premium alternatives where they can sell in volume and bypass the ludicrous PS and Microsoft Stores. 

 

If Sony and MS along with Nintendo continue to rule this space then every game going forward will cost £60-100 with very little reduction opportunities. On PC, I can literally get a brand new release for 20-33% off just through one of these alternative sites who are happy to sell in volume with lower margins and the publishers who distribute the keys don't have to worry about paying store premiums for every copy sold. I fear that because console gamers have been conditioned to the central stores and digital-only, this wont change though.  

[Luseth 2,230]

I don't think PC gaming is really comparable, yes there are alternative storefronts and there is always scope for more retailers to enter this space. The biggest company Valve allow keys to be sold elsewhere. However Sony and playstation is currently a closed system. You can only purchase games through their storefront, they do not give keys out to anyone else. It's essentially the same court case that has been going on with Apple and IOS over in the US.

 

I have had some other thoughts on this since my post and just wanted to note them down as a digital only library comes fraught with it's own issues as well:-

 

• Account security. Digital libraries can be worth thousands of pounds. As they become more valuable, they'll inevitably become a bigger target for hackers and account theft, 2FA is here today but hackers are generally clever and may yet find ways around it.
• Loss of access. If your account is permanently banned or you lose login details etc you're potentially losing access to your entire library rather than just a single game.
• A lack of competition. As above, lack of competition. Sony's system is a closed system, there is going to be nowhere else you can buy a game from Playstation other than their store front where they will also take a cut of the profit of every single game sold.
• Changing terms over time. When you buy digitally you're buying under the terms that exist today, but those terms can change in the future. Store policies, licence agreements and account requirements aren't fixed forever and we have no idea at this point how they will evolve.
• Games disappearing from sale. Licensing issues already mean games occasionally disappear from digital stores. If there's no physical market, future players may simply have no legitimate way of buying those games. GTA VI will have a great soundtrack, if some of those licenses end there will be a day that potentially can't be bought.
• Store longevity. Sony isn't going anywhere any time soon, but digital purchases are ultimately tied to the continued operation of the platform and your account. Physical media doesn't have that dependency.

 

[GazzaGarratt 11,325]

The whole idea just makes me really sad. I appreciate everyone knows that I love physical game purchases, so I am trying to see this from an objective view - but I appreciate there may always be some unconscious bias.

 

For me, it drives so many poor behaviours and attitudes in the world. They want quick to market, so that means we will get less polished games, more likely towards a PC styled games. The love for PC games just isn't there for me, can't remember when I saw a proper AAA title come out on PC, whilst hundreds of thousands of Indie games are littered on the storefront. Ironically, indie games are usually self contained games that don't need online support, which then could be physical lol.

 

Its the whole experience for me. A console has been a driving force for years as its a 'physical' thing a parent can buy a kid for Christmas. You never see a PC done like that. What went with that is opening games, surprises on what is with them. If you look at the games that have been well received over recent years, so many are physical playable games, but also because they have some incredible physical packages you can buy. The Witcher 3 which is still up there on the best of all time games, was such good value for money. People got maps, details, etc, inside the physical game.

 

We've just hit what I think is about 2-5 years near the end of the Digital, minimalistic era. AI will accelerate but games will go digital for a while, but it will all come full circle and we will be back to delivering items that people want to physically own in their hands and their houses.

 

I saw a joke somewhere that this is the perfect time for Xbox to announce they are going back to Physical games. It would be the Powerplays of all powerplays. Our social voices creates movements very quickly these days, so we'll see if it changes anything in the coming weeks/months.

[J4MES OX4D 10,497]

I remember when PC games made the transition - I used to love the big box games of the 90's with the CD case, fat instruction booklet and sometimes gifts included. Suddenly around the early 2000's, games began to move to DVD's and we instead got DVD cases with some lame thin instruction booklet and nothing else included. Going from Half Life, Deus Ex, Unreal Tournament, Age of Empires 2 etc.. with their big boxes to DVD's with their respective sequels was a huge downturn. It saved space, cheaper to produce and at least the games were still physical although most were Steam-bound, but a part of gaming died for me in those days.

 

Consoles have been pretty much dead in the water since the absolutely iconic Xbox 360 and PS3 era. That was a conveyor belt of quality games where things were still innovating and people were still adapting to online gaming.  Gamers were treated fairly and the industry was thriving. Although we've seen some great games in the previous gen and even this one, it's nothing that will really go down in history, apart from maybe Expedition 33, The Witcher 3 and Red Dead 2. Gaming is stagnant, the industry is riddled with corporate greed and cheapness along with shocking practices that make being a developer an extremely insecure profession. 

 

In 10 years time, console games will be streamed only so we will look back at this and think ourselves lucky at being able to at least own games on our digital accounts (assuming Sony don't take them away) Not only that, consoles will probably be digital-only too and require a connection to stream games in 8K through our common hardware like TV's and PC's. Companies like Microsoft and Ubisoft have explored this and are still working behind the scenes at making this a reality in the next decade. Others will soon follow and Nintendo are also expressing interest. So the future of gaming will essentially be sit in front of a TV, connect to a virtual console and stream games that way. You will not own anything but pay for a streaming service and then a subscriptions or rental. Valve may be on of the few entities that keep things outdatedly traditional. You'll probably spend £249.99 on a controller and that's it.