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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Hard evidence that digital distribution is slowly taking over for physical copies.

I still buy mostly physical, I love watching my shelf of games grow. For digital, although I own hundreds of games I struggle to keep track of what I actually own.



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StokedUp said:
I don’t mind digital (my last five games were all digital versions) my only massive problem with it is that there is no reason whatsoever why a digital version of a game should cost more than the physical release but they do! By selling digital they have cut the shipping, packaging and booklet costs yet they always cost so much more.

There has to be more competition, more places in which you can purchase and download a digital version of a game onto your PS4/Xbox. That’s the only way we will stop being took advantage of with the prices available.

Not sure where this comes from. Both PS Store and Xbox Store have times where they are cheaper, and times where they are more expensive. Sometimes a game comes out and goes on sale digitally for $39.99 within weeks of release, while retail is still selling it for $59.99. Other times a game will be full price digitally while a select retailer has it on sale for $39.99. It goes both ways.

There are also constant sales. I can speak for PS Store the most since I am on it a few times a week. You can find amazing sales with many full titles finding their way to $4.99 - $9.99. A lot of times you can get an older game for $14.99 - $29.99 on PS Store, while it is at Walmart or Taget for $59.99. 

I have been all digital since 2010, unless a game only came out physically. I have bought so many games for under $10, and it has driven me to buy and play many games I never would have. It also is nice to have access to my entire collection over Remote Play. 

Digital is definitly going to become the majority of sales in the future, but there will be a portion of the market that sticks with Physical for years to come. Whether that will be 10%, 25%, or 40%, only time will tell. I think having two models, one with a drive and one without could help Sony and Microsoft sway people even more, and I hope they go down that road in the near future. The more people buying digital, the more goes money goes back to devs, and platform holders, and that equals more games, and better digital sales. I welcome the digital future. 



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If physical music is still a thing, physical games will probably never, ever die.



Well... from your own numbers you can see it's growth is decelarating.

Theres advantages and disavantages. I don't see it replacing physical for the time being. It is only worth it when it's cheaper. While releases are the same price as physical goods, they offer more value per money.



JSG87 said:
VGPolyglot said:
I think that physical copies of games will still be around for years, even if their numbers continue to fall there are still enough people that purchase them that the publishers don't want to miss out on.

 

I agree. Dvd sales & Music CD sales are still going despite the massive rise in Digital services.

Business have had to change to adapt though.

Allot of video game outlets here have diversified into merchandise to make up for the decreasing revenue.
And so they should! It's what capitalism is all about, you adapt to the changing market conditions or you die.

think-man said:
I still buy mostly physical, I love watching my shelf of games grow. For digital, although I own hundreds of games I struggle to keep track of what I actually own.

I always buy Physical on console. Digital on PC.
On console if Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo decide to shut down shop, I have no alternatives of acquiring said product, on PC there is always other avenues.

I really wish I could purchase some of the old Xbox arcade games for the original Xbox for example... But alas, I cannot.

With that in mind... It's not unusual for me to buy a Physical copy of a game, then decide to purchase a digital copy because I enjoy the game and get sick of swapping disks all the time.



--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--

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Sure digital will take over some day, but until then i'll enjoy my physical copies



CuCabeludo said:

Today when you buy a game physical, put the disc on and discover you need to download 5GB+ day 1 patch is definitively pushing people towards digital.

totally. especially for us xbox one users, who realized that regardless of whether you have the disc or not you have to download the entire game onto your console. that was the final push for me to move on from retail games.



flashfire926 said:

Soon enough, physical copies of games will become obsolete. GameStop and GAME (and other similar chains around the world) will go the way of blockbuster. This shift in the way we consume video game software is beneficiary for all the industry. 

Saying this is good for the industry is like saying the democratization of photography with the advent of digital photography has been benificial to photography as an artform. Or the advent of streaming has improved our music listening experience compared to vinyl. They haven't.

Newer doesn't equal better. This will only be benificiary to the gaming companies themselves and not to us, the consumers.



This isn't exactly evidence that digital is overtaking physical. It would be more interesting to see what percentage of sales were digital for games that offered both a digital and physical version.



KBG29 said:
StokedUp said:
I don’t mind digital (my last five games were all digital versions) my only massive problem with it is that there is no reason whatsoever why a digital version of a game should cost more than the physical release but they do! By selling digital they have cut the shipping, packaging and booklet costs yet they always cost so much more.

There has to be more competition, more places in which you can purchase and download a digital version of a game onto your PS4/Xbox. That’s the only way we will stop being took advantage of with the prices available.

Not sure where this comes from. Both PS Store and Xbox Store have times where they are cheaper, and times where they are more expensive. Sometimes a game comes out and goes on sale digitally for $39.99 within weeks of release, while retail is still selling it for $59.99. Other times a game will be full price digitally while a select retailer has it on sale for $39.99. It goes both ways.

There are also constant sales. I can speak for PS Store the most since I am on it a few times a week. You can find amazing sales with many full titles finding their way to $4.99 - $9.99. A lot of times you can get an older game for $14.99 - $29.99 on PS Store, while it is at Walmart or Taget for $59.99. 

I have been all digital since 2010, unless a game only came out physically. I have bought so many games for under $10, and it has driven me to buy and play many games I never would have. It also is nice to have access to my entire collection over Remote Play. 

Digital is definitly going to become the majority of sales in the future, but there will be a portion of the market that sticks with Physical for years to come. Whether that will be 10%, 25%, or 40%, only time will tell. I think having two models, one with a drive and one without could help Sony and Microsoft sway people even more, and I hope they go down that road in the near future. The more people buying digital, the more goes money goes back to devs, and platform holders, and that equals more games, and better digital sales. I welcome the digital future. 

I can only say from my experience, and where I’m from. But 100% of the games I’ve bought for PS4 digitally have all been more expensive than the physical releases. My most recent was God Of war, that cost me 52 but it was 43 in a local store. I simply couldn’t be bothered to get in my car and drive 2 mile to go pick it up :)

Last edited by StokedUp - on 30 April 2018

PSN ID: Stokesy 

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