Digital Games Could Be At The Forefront For The Next Consoles

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There’s something about owning a physical game and actually having it in your hands that’s pretty cool. That said, the market has changed quite a bit since more and more developers starting making their games available digitally, and now it appears that could create a big change in how these titles are distributed in the future.

This report from The Daily Star indicates that “the end of the physical video game disc is in sight”, as physical sales seem to be taking a downward turn, while digital game sales continue to soar.

According to the report, physical game sales have taken a decline 20 percent year over year, based on numbers provided from Kantar Worldpanel’s latest quarterly entertainment report.

“Gaming titles only made up two of the top ten physical entertainment titles” over “the past three months,” per the report. That said, “digital entertainment sales continued to climb with 13 percent of the UK now using streaming services, up three percent from last year.”


Though DailyStar’s take is a bit harsh, saying that the physical sales market is “failing,” there’s an indication that gamers are starting to enjoy the convenience of simply having game titles digitally, instead of trying to find room for a growing game collection. (Not everyone’s that way, though – ask anybody that invests pretty often in Limited Run Games releases like Night Trap and LawBreakers: Collector’s Edition.)

As a result, Microsoft and Sony could be looking into extensive storage options for its Xbox One X and PlayStation 5 consoles, in the hopes of boosting digital game sales. This is even in the face of Amazon still doing well in the physical game front, with a 20.6 percent share of the overall sales market.

Not everyone is doing well, though. UK retailer GAME saw a market share decrease of 2.5 percent year-over-year, with a market share decrease of 6.4 percent overall and a lack of big new titles – through this holiday season will change that.

For now, the market will likely stay the way it is, as a number of releases like Call of Duty: WWII and Assassin’s Creed: Origins will still have the digital/physical availability. But, yeah, don’t be surprised if the market sways a little bit towards all-digital over the next few years…

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Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2017/08/13/digital-games-could-be-at-the-forefront-for-the-next-xbox-and-pl/

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"Digital Games Could Be At The Forefront For The Next Consoles" :: Login/Create an Account :: 22 comments

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SilkyPosted:

I still prefer buying discs, not really sure why but just prefer having a physical copy.

XboxPosted:

I don't mind digital downloads, less I have to leave my house.

M3Posted:

say goodbye to game stores and places like that

TOXICPosted:

I only really buy physical copies if it's a steel book case or a collectors edition.

WizaarddPosted:

my hard drive cant hold much more

SkatesPosted:

ever since we had to start installing games to our drives before playing i just bought digitally. whats the point of buying a physical copy if i still have to wait for it to install. save time and gas buying digitally, plus gamesharings a thing and you dont have to get up to switch games is nice.

WakePosted:

kerrry Interesting article, to me it's pretty obvious gaming is failing, I personally feel there hasn't been a good game since Xbox 360, I could be wrong but in terms of what's on console right now, it's all 30 fps garbage.


What? You need to open your eyes. This year has had some amazing console releases (Zelda: BOTW, Persona 5, Resident Evil 7, Horizon Zero Dawn) and the year hasn't even ended. Next year will have Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War 4, Spider-man and Last of Us 2 which will all do well.

On this article, we should have made the switch from disc to digital this generation. Xbox was going to do it but when faced with the public backlash of disc lovers, scared away from it. Just look at Steam, which is extremely successful and doesn't use discs. I remember people losing their minds at the notion that they wouldn't be able to sell their games or let other people borrow them but people need to wake up. Movies, games, and music no longer require physical releases, it will be entertaining to see how long it takes discs to die (similar to the VHS/Cassette Tapes) and imagine how much waste will be saved in production of these things. Digital is the future.

RareparrotPosted:

olord. well how will this work then?

Mario350Posted:

i stopped buying disc copies when i learned you can family share on ps4

EchoPosted:

You could do alot with the space a disk drive take's up, all my games are downloaded, none are disks I prefer it like that no switching and swapping and no scratched disks!


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