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method114 on 20 August 2020
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Vinther1991 said:
method114 said:

It's been very shocking to me the amount of people who don't realize how much Sony is saving with DE version. It seems all anyone thinks about is the disc drive and that's it. There's a reason MS tried to push no more used games this gen and it's not out of kindest of their hearts. Everyone knows how much money is being lost via the used game business. This is Sony's attempt to casually move people away from that system without forcing anyone. Genius move and one that MS should have implored this gen to avoid all the controversy.

- no disc drive 

- required to purchase everything through the Sony store which means more money for Sony and less to retailers

- No more used games (this is massive) Sony makes no money off of used games purchases. 

Over the life of the console this adds up to much more than $100. In fact if you still purchase a fair amount of used games than the $100 you are saving is nothing compared to what you save with the disc version + used games. I don't purchase used games anymore I'm all digital.

Sony has already won the war against retailers. They do not need to worry about people primarily buying physical, digital sales has already overtaken physical sales by a large margin and that trend will continue, no matter how Sony prices their consoles. The downsides of physical sales for Sony have essentially been eliminated. I can barely find any physical games where I live any longer, the retailers are either gone, or are only selling a small selection of the newest titles. Used games I would have to buy online, and pay a shipping cost that isn't worth it. Other countries might still have more physical sales, but not for long.

So your points 2 and 3 don't favour a disc-less console so much anymore.

Things that might make the disc version preferable to Sony are:

1. They still get royalties from Blu-ray films, even if it has become a niche market.

2. Collectors editions of games can be sold at high prices, to those who care for those.

I don't know what country you live in but I can find used games all over the place here. Walmart and 3 gamestops all within 20-30 mins of me. I live in the USA we are by far the biggest gaming market (China is close) and every state has used games all over the place. Also sales vary I've paid $60 for games off the PSN store that were $30 or less at gamestop, walmart, etc. A person with a disc drive has options. Each time they choose anything but the PSN store during the life of that console is lost money for Sony. Think about what I just said. I paid $60 for a game that I've seen on sale for $30 physical at the store. Do you understand how much money that can add up to all over the USA?

With a digital console now Sony can better project how much money they will make off you. They can average how many games someone buys of the life of the console and factor that into the cost. They can't do that with a console that has a disc drive.

1. No one cares about Bluray's that's a dying market. Why would Sony invest in a dying market they are thinking of the future not the past.

2. Collectors editions is a very niche market getting even have your user base to be all digital would be worth far more.