Is this really surprising?
The most popular SKU of their console is digital only
The refresh of the Series X is reportedly digital only
Their core strategy moving forward is Gamepass: A subscription for digital only games.
Why is it that people are so against physical going away on console but okay with PC doing it ages ago?
I actually remember people weren't really thrilled about Steam at first.
Either way I think digital on PC and consoles is different.
-PC is an open platform which allows multiple stores to exist as well key resellers. On console digital only means being locked into a single store monopoly.
-PC is essentially an evergreen platform with a good track record of forward compatibility for software. Even if you upgrade your hardware you take your entire digital library with you over time. On console we can expect backward compatibility moving forward but it's never guaranteed. The digital PC games you bought in 2010 are still easily playable on your current computer (for the most part), a lot of the digital games you bought for Ps3 are locked to it.
-Even with the recent increases in places like Argentina and Turkey, digital games on PC often still offer good regional pricing in developing countries. Meanwhile in my country PSN games are often around 15% more expensive than physical ones.
- I think to some people piracy sort of works as a fallback plan. If for some reason your digital PC copy of Elden Ring or Cyberpunk gets taken away from you it's fairly easy to go get an "alternative" version. If your digital copy of Elden Ring on Ps5/SX gets taken away from your for some reason there's nothing much to do.
Additionally PC games used to be cheap as fuck compared to console games. PC games often launched cheaper than their console version and went on sale really fast (those old Steam sales were pretty insane) which helped people be more accepting of the digital only format. Meanwhile digital console games are often still more expensive than their physical version (specially in regards to sales and price drops).