Future of gaming in a all digital future

[Chrkeller]

Wman1996 said:

While this might deserve a separate thread one day, when do you all think certain digital storefronts will close?
We already know the ones that have.
DSi: 2017
Wii: 2019
PSP: 2021
3DS & Wii U: 2023
Xbox 360: Scheduled for July 29, 2024

Vita and PS3 will likely be first on the chopping block, since they were going to close around the time of the PSP closing. There's virtually no chance they survive into the 2030s. But the other question is will they close in the same year or be staggered? Vita's store is better than PS3's in terms of use, but the Vita is a much more niche product. On the other hand, many moderate to major Vita releases were digital-only globally or in certain regions. I'll lump them together and predict that they'll close in 2025, even if the two storefronts have different closing dates.
Xbox One will probably be fine for a while because I think the Xbox Series X/S store is built from it. It would be pretty scummy to shutter the storefront 5 or more years before the Series since they're so similar.
PS4 and PS5 have some clear differences in the storefronts, so I think PS4's storefront will close before PS5. PS4's storefront will probably close around 2030 (partway into the life of PS6). Despite the massive install base of PS4, over 99.9% of the games can purchased on PS5. And they're not going to keep the store open largely for people to buy things like avatars and themes.

I can download ps4 games on my ps5.  It is the same storefront.  I see the Playstation store being like steam.  Plus you can backup and restore your system.  

I've been all digital for a long time now.  No issues on vidoegames, books, music and movies.  I have never lost a single item.

Plus by the time a storefront is closed, emulation is available.  Games are less likely to disappear in a digital world.  

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 29 November 2023