Sony: Moving Towards Digital Distribution Is A "Natural Progression"

Hope you're ready for a future where digital distribution is the primary model of video game delivery. It's a-comin'.

SCEA Senior Vice President Scott Rohde considers this a "natural progression" and although he does say that traditional retail products won't disappear entirely, the trend is obvious and clear.

In speaking to The Interactive, Rohde said in regards to moving towards a digital distribution model- "It's something we want to do, and it's inevitable."

"I think this is a natural progression. You’ll start to see more and more digital offerings across the board. And this is not just a Sony thing, you’re obviously going to see it across the board. It’s the way the world is progressing, not just Sony."

Rohde talked about a new initiative for PlayStation Plus subscribers, multiple top-quality free downloads, and the fact that games are shifting towards online services. As examples, he mentioned Call of Duty Elite,Diablo III (the game has an "always-on" Internet requirement), and MMOs like Free Realms. He added that Sony is experimenting with new stuff for the future, and finished:

"There is no definitive answer about where we will go or where the whole industry will go… the whole industry is in an experimental phase to understand what consumers want and what makes them happy."

It probably is "inevitable." But it'll be interesting to see how the long-time hardcore gamers respond.

http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/11411.html

Digital distribution is a natural progression, every company is moving towards it, but im not going to support it...

Archaic mindset. 

Deal with it

I think streaming will outrun digital distribution actually. Or could DD and Streaming live side by side? I couldn't give a shit about Physical copies anymore, Steam has proven DD for me and Netflix has proven Streaming.

Grace Chen, is that you?

This explains... so much.

They'll probably exist side by side. Streaming still has a little way to go for gaming purposes and extreme PC gamers that keep their rigs up to date with the latest hardware will probably stick to having their own games.

Different finance models will also play a part. I'm guessing subscription for streaming with per game payment for digital distribution. Then there's the free 2 play model which is becomming increasingly popular and we may see many games going this route. Maybe the streaming model could use the spotify model so there's an element of free 2 play.

With streaming, you also don't have to worry about playing your games if your internet goes down or the servers need maintenance. Sounds great!

buahhahahhahaha

In 10 years time I'm sure streaming services will be incredibly refined, as will the services from internet providers. Nobody is talking about it becoming the norm anytime soon.