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Do physical games have a future?

NomenNescio

NomenNescio

Dual Sense Edger and Blower
With sales being mostly digital now, and that percentage increasing over time, I wonder if there is any point in buying physical games anymore, in regards to the future.

Even if the whole game is in the disc/cartridge, it requires compatible hardware to run. With the market trends, I see PS6 following the same model as the PS5 Pro and still having a disc drive as an optional accessory (Helix, I am not so sure). PS7, though, it is very difficult to predict. What will the digital/physical ratio be at that point? 98 over 2 %? Will Sony even bother making a disc drive for the PS7 with the physical market being that niche?

Beyond market behavior there are also other forces pushing the industry heavily into the digital distribution model. Blu-rays have reached their maximum capacity (100 GB), while games keep getting bigger and bigger. And there is no financial incentive for developing a successor, especially when you can just deliver the content digitally now. Games also run faster in digital form than from the physical media. And lastly, physical media does not align with the dynamic nature of current games, even offline ones. Constant patches and DLC are delivered digitally post launch. What ends up in the disc is not really the final work, but in the best case scenario a frozen early version of the game that is not an exact representation of the end piece.

If these corporations stop supporting disc drives/cartridge readers in the future, you would have to stick with older hardware to run your physical games. That older hardware at some point is going to stop being produced, and stop being supported, so by the time it inevitably fails (like all degrading electronic), you would have to rely on the second hand market to get repair parts and service. With these machines being much, much more complex than the ones of the previous generations, I do not see that being a trivial obstacle, depending on where you live and the resources available there.

Aside from that, would you have to rebuy your physical games digitally if you want to play them on PS7-8-9? Will we even have traditional consoles by that time?

I think this is profoundly interesting because I see a lot of physical enthusiasts spending in the format as a form of "preservation" and "resistance against future servers shutdowns", when in reality they are just shifting the risk to another area. It would be ironic if digital games bought today end up lasting and being supported for longer time than their physical counterparts.
 
I think physical will continue down the road it's on now which is disappearing at a moderate pace. Physical is already dead on PC, and the console manufacturers want you to move to digital and it's working.

I'm all digital on all modern platforms (8th gen-present) outside of a few physical Switch/Switch 2 games but those are because I was able to buy Metroid Prime 4 and Mario Kart World for like $75 combined in Japan.

I think at most you'll see physical on PlayStation and Nintendo for one more generation.
 
Insert "you will own nothing and you will be happy" guy here....
Basically we who yearn for the days of pretty much physical media - are like the ones who are yearning for the eight tracks to come back....
Of course, we are not dead, but one thing for sure is that we are not the mainstream or the future. And I am saying that with "future" doesn't necessarily mean "good" or "better". Sometimes it's worse for some people.
 
It will just continue to dwindle and become more niche. Collectors need things to collect.

I've been all digital since 2012. I haven't missed dealing with physical media one bit. Digital has been a huge convenience and saved me money, space, time, and some low level stress.
 
Nah, it's done. It works for movies, but for games where there are updates and DLC, it just doesn't have much utility anymore. I could see wanting to have the physical copy so that you're not reliant on a digital license, but then... again, you're kinda screwed if there's DLC. Until we have physical carts that let you rewrite the contents to incorporate updates and DLC that you've purchased, there's really just not a viable future for it even for the collector's market.
 
If publishers can find a path towards an all digital future, they will.

With the data being something like 93%+ digital sales or something like that for Capcom from a recent report, it seems like that future is very close.

There will probably always be a few developers who make small projects to release physical copies of their games, that Cuphead MasterSystem game being a good example. However, I think widespread physical sales will continue to decline.
 
Physical games might see one more generation. Then that's it.

Publishers and online platforms make more money by selling games digitally. That's the hard truth.

I don't like it because can I really trust Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft with my digital library? Will it be accessible to me in 10, 15, 20 years? I honestly don't know, and that uncertainty is why I'd prefer it if physical was always an option.

PC has been digital only for years, but the difference is I actually trust Steam and GOG with my library. I have games on my Steam library that are over 20 years old that are still accessible. That's the sort of guarantee people need from consoles to really move to digital.
 
Best hope I think is a limited run vinyl style market that's niche, but a thriving enough niche.

That or some new storage medium that's cheap to produce, stores a ton, and can write digital updates to them (so you're not dependent on servers in future). Would need to be secure enough so companies don't fret about piracy, but even then I think enough bigger ones just like the control licenses give over consumers having more autonomy.

Maybe if devs stop worrying about piracy years after their games release, making the money they'll make, we'll get more DRM-free digital, and some company can offer an affordable solution to back those games up to a physical storage device, and pop that in a nice box with art...so consumers make their own physical from drm-free digital. Purely spitballing here.
 
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Durin said:
Maybe if devs stop worrying about piracy years after their games release, making the money they'll make, we'll get more DRM-free digital, and some company can offer an affordable solution to back those games up to a physical storage device, and pop that in a nice box with art...so consumers make their own physical from drm-free digital. Purely spitballing here.
Click to expand...
This

More people would switch to digital if they felt they were purchasing an item and not just a licence.

Slightly off topic, but digital films haven't really taken off because of streaming and because it's a licence that can be revoked. If I'm buying a digital film, I want access to that film for the rest of my life.

Same with games. If I buy a digital game on the PS Store, I want a guarantee that I can play that game in the future.
 
We're at 10-15% of total sales being physical today. That number was about 30% 10 years ago. At this rate of decline, physical will no longer be an option after the PS6 generation.


They're not going to design hardware around a disc drive and continue to press discs when ~5% of sales are physical. It just wouldn't make any business sense.
 
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They built a brand new Walmart less than a year ago in my city, and the physical games section is quite small. Over half of it was Nintendo Switch 1 and 2. Then a chunk of Playstation games, and in the PlayStation shelves, a handful of random Xbox games. Dramatically smaller than any other Walmart I've been to.

About a month ago, that section shrunk to half its size.
 
I'd expect PS6 to have support for physical games but not come standard with a disc drive. I'd also expect the next Nintendo system to support physical as well. After that, it wouldn't surprise me if we are all digital as making access to physical games option or providing options like game key cards will just further dwindle the shrunken demand for physical games.
 
True physical games?
No Way GIF by MOODMAN
 
I hope so. If not, I'll just continue waiting for 50% off on almost every digital game purchase like I do now. The modern industry doesn't give me much to play anyway, so I've reduced my gaming time drastically this generation. Gaming was my main form of entertainment for 40+ years, now it's something I do for a few hours here and there and even that is waning unless there is a really fun game out for me.
 
IDKFA said:
This

More people would switch to digital if they felt they were purchasing an item and not just a licence.

Slightly off topic, but digital films haven't really taken off because of streaming and because it's a licence that can be revoked. If I'm buying a digital film, I want access to that film for the rest of my life.

Same with games. If I buy a digital game on the PS Store, I want a guarantee that I can play that game in the future.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the licensing issue where things could be revoked or made unavailable sucks. I'm hopeful that maybe government regulation could help in future, like with the Stop Killing Games movement.

It's why I still tend to opt towards physical on consoles, because after Nintendo shut down some of their older console digital storefronts, and Sony tried to with the PS3 until people complained...I have less faith in them vs Steam. On PC I worry less because it doesn't have really have generations, the games scale to different hardware, and modders + the high seas sites can crack past DRM issues. Even Denuvo games are getting cracked without the hypervisor setup now.

GoG though is the best for preservation, especially because they do commit with their Good Old Games program automating old games to work on modern systems, and stuff like Proton with Valve as a translation layer shows me even if Windows fell off you can still play all that stuff on Linux.
 
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After my Gothic Remake XSX physical preorder, I believe: "yes".
-Game was locked until release day.
-The game required a mandatory download.
-The game demanded constant internet connection (this is now removed).
-In short, the game was not on disc.
-The retail physical release that later reached online stores, sell for much less than what I paid.
 
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We need to start demanding pro consumer rules for digital games.

1. All non-live service games should receive an update to make them 100% playable when they get delisted or go offline. (except things that obviously need a connection)
2. All games should be playable from an external storage for times when they can't be downloaded anymore.
3. Publisher should always notify consumers with many days prior that a game is getting delisted or offline.
 
I think you'll always see people make LRG style drops once in a while. Economic pressure could make PS6 digital only in hopes the decimation of used sales and money saved on manufacturing and distribution makes up hardware margins.
 
IDKFA said:
Physical games might see one more generation. Then that's it.

Publishers and online platforms make more money by selling games digitally. That's the hard truth.

I don't like it because can I really trust Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft with my digital library? Will it be accessible to me in 10, 15, 20 years? I honestly don't know, and that uncertainty is why I'd prefer it if physical was always an option.

PC has been digital only for years, but the difference is I actually trust Steam and GOG with my library. I have games on my Steam library that are over 20 years old that are still accessible. That's the sort of guarantee people need from consoles to really move to digital.
Click to expand...
And I'll stop buying games. Their call.
 
No.
Consumers chose convenience over property rights a long time ago.
Either go to GOG or do you best Jack Sparrow impersonation if you want to keep what you buy.
 
TanDad25 said:
After my Gothic Remake XSX physical preorder, I believe: "yes".
-Game was locked until release day.
-The game required a mandatory download.
-The game demanded constant internet connection (this is now removed).
-In short, the game was not on disc.
-The retail physical release that later reached online stores, sell for much less than what I paid.
Click to expand...
The situation with Gothic Remake is something rare, but it can become a precedent for bigger publishers to try do the same in the future. By locking people with disc versions from playing until release day you get:
- less story spoilers
- less pissed off customers that the old build without the day1 patch is super buggy
- less negative conversations about the game undelivering, being bad or woke slop ;)
- no pissed off digital customers that they have to wait while other people are playing

At least the publisher of Gothic received some heat for fucking up with the info on the cover and not informing people that the game isn't playable in any form without an Internet connection AND a day 1 patch.
 
They'll get limited and more expensive over time. But they'll only die if the console kakers decide to and Indon't think they will. Sony will sell it separately and Nintendo will go on with their gam key-card for some games ans truly physical for others.
 
NomenNescio said:
With sales being mostly digital now, and that percentage increasing over time, I wonder if there is any point in buying physical games anymore, in regards to the future.

Even if the whole game is in the disc/cartridge, it requires compatible hardware to run. With the market trends, I see PS6 following the same model as the PS5 Pro and still having a disc drive as an optional accessory (Helix, I am not so sure). PS7, though, it is very difficult to predict. What will the digital/physical ratio be at that point? 98 over 2 %? Will Sony even bother making a disc drive for the PS7 with the physical market being that niche?

Beyond market behavior there are also other forces pushing the industry heavily into the digital distribution model. Blu-rays have reached their maximum capacity (100 GB), while games keep getting bigger and bigger. And there is no financial incentive for developing a successor, especially when you can just deliver the content digitally now. Games also run faster in digital form than from the physical media. And lastly, physical media does not align with the dynamic nature of current games, even offline ones. Constant patches and DLC are delivered digitally post launch. What ends up in the disc is not really the final work, but in the best case scenario a frozen early version of the game that is not an exact representation of the end piece.

If these corporations stop supporting disc drives/cartridge readers in the future, you would have to stick with older hardware to run your physical games. That older hardware at some point is going to stop being produced, and stop being supported, so by the time it inevitably fails (like all degrading electronic), you would have to rely on the second hand market to get repair parts and service. With these machines being much, much more complex than the ones of the previous generations, I do not see that being a trivial obstacle, depending on where you live and the resources available there.

Aside from that, would you have to rebuy your physical games digitally if you want to play them on PS7-8-9? Will we even have traditional consoles by that time?

I think this is profoundly interesting because I see a lot of physical enthusiasts spending in the format as a form of "preservation" and "resistance against future servers shutdowns", when in reality they are just shifting the risk to another area. It would be ironic if digital games bought today end up lasting and being supported for longer time than their physical counterparts.
Click to expand...
For collectors for sure but I think that's about it. I would like it to stay around if developers keep the full game on disks without updates needing to play. We'll see
 
NomenNescio said:
With sales being mostly digital now, and that percentage increasing over time, I wonder if there is any point in buying physical games anymore, in regards to the future.

Even if the whole game is in the disc/cartridge, it requires compatible hardware to run. With the market trends, I see PS6 following the same model as the PS5 Pro and still having a disc drive as an optional accessory (Helix, I am not so sure). PS7, though, it is very difficult to predict. What will the digital/physical ratio be at that point? 98 over 2 %? Will Sony even bother making a disc drive for the PS7 with the physical market being that niche?

Beyond market behavior there are also other forces pushing the industry heavily into the digital distribution model. Blu-rays have reached their maximum capacity (100 GB), while games keep getting bigger and bigger. And there is no financial incentive for developing a successor, especially when you can just deliver the content digitally now. Games also run faster in digital form than from the physical media. And lastly, physical media does not align with the dynamic nature of current games, even offline ones. Constant patches and DLC are delivered digitally post launch. What ends up in the disc is not really the final work, but in the best case scenario a frozen early version of the game that is not an exact representation of the end piece.

If these corporations stop supporting disc drives/cartridge readers in the future, you would have to stick with older hardware to run your physical games. That older hardware at some point is going to stop being produced, and stop being supported, so by the time it inevitably fails (like all degrading electronic), you would have to rely on the second hand market to get repair parts and service. With these machines being much, much more complex than the ones of the previous generations, I do not see that being a trivial obstacle, depending on where you live and the resources available there.

Aside from that, would you have to rebuy your physical games digitally if you want to play them on PS7-8-9? Will we even have traditional consoles by that time?

I think this is profoundly interesting because I see a lot of physical enthusiasts spending in the format as a form of "preservation" and "resistance against future servers shutdowns", when in reality they are just shifting the risk to another area. It would be ironic if digital games bought today end up lasting and being supported for longer time than their physical counterparts.
Click to expand...
yes as coasters
 
I would say that Physical is even the future. Without it gaming is doomed.

I will skip the whole license debate of 'Ackshually... you always got a licensed copy' and go straight to the important stuff: whole controls your shit. with physical games you can play when you want, what you want and how you want (except the more than shady crap of games like Gothic or 007).

I will give a simple real example of what happened to me just a couple of days ago:

I installed my copy of ProPilot 99 on my computer and played for like 3-4 hours, no issues. Then I decided to change gears and get into a modern combat flight simulator: DCS World where I have like $300 bucks in stuff like terrains, planes, etc. I just couldnt play because they updated the launcher and now Steam validation was not enough, they also needed to check my account and that was bugged. The game that I payed for was never in my control. (I fix it the next day, but I shouldnt had, I wanted to play SP).

The gaming industry will definitely shrink after a big expanse that lasted decades, but now they have to pay the bill and I dont see current corpos even feel bad because they just delisted games and you cant get them back, even if some wishful thinking law is passed, they will find a way to cut costs. They always do. This whole thing of 'going digital, is comfortable!' is just them cutting costs at the expense of us.

Games are not just grab and throw content, and gamers feel attached to them, thats why we had the ridiculous 'console war' that was nothing more than 'My multimillion dollar company is better than yours!'. Content like this shouldnt be just discarded and even if its nature is kind of non-physical (software), their boxes, their manuals, their discs and cartridge stayed as a memento of what we experience. A digital license is nothing more than just a icon on big list, a list that you probably never see.

Current gaming and streaming marketing tactics is to just plug the users into the production line so they can cheap costs and make the players (or watcher) numb with surprise mechanics and other tricks like seasonal content (too keep you hocked and put a dead line to your content).

If we abandon physical media we are just delivering the last part of gaming to them, and there is no going back from that. I personally just started to skip any game without a proper physical release, regardless of how hyped people is about it.
 
KenaiPhoenix said:
I would say that Physical is even the future. Without it gaming is doomed.

I will skip the whole license debate of 'Ackshually... you always got a licensed copy' and go straight to the important stuff: whole controls your shit. with physical games you can play when you want, what you want and how you want (except the more than shady crap of games like Gothic or 007).

I will give a simple real example of what happened to me just a couple of days ago:

I installed my copy of ProPilot 99 on my computer and played for like 3-4 hours, no issues. Then I decided to change gears and get into a modern combat flight simulator: DCS World where I have like $300 bucks in stuff like terrains, planes, etc. I just couldnt play because they updated the launcher and now Steam validation was not enough, they also needed to check my account and that was bugged. The game that I payed for was never in my control. (I fix it the next day, but I shouldnt had, I wanted to play SP).

The gaming industry will definitely shrink after a big expanse that lasted decades, but now they have to pay the bill and I dont see current corpos even feel bad because they just delisted games and you cant get them back, even if some wishful thinking law is passed, they will find a way to cut costs. They always do. This whole thing of 'going digital, is comfortable!' is just them cutting costs at the expense of us.

Games are not just grab and throw content, and gamers feel attached to them, thats why we had the ridiculous 'console war' that was nothing more than 'My multimillion dollar company is better than yours!'. Content like this shouldnt be just discarded and even if its nature is kind of non-physical (software), their boxes, their manuals, their discs and cartridge stayed as a memento of what we experience. A digital license is nothing more than just a icon on big list, a list that you probably never see.

Current gaming and streaming marketing tactics is to just plug the users into the production line so they can cheap costs and make the players (or watcher) numb with surprise mechanics and other tricks like seasonal content (too keep you hocked and put a dead line to your content).

If we abandon physical media we are just delivering the last part of gaming to them, and there is no going back from that. I personally just started to skip any game without a proper physical release, regardless of how hyped people is about it.
Click to expand...
If that's what you're worried about, most digital games are still drm-free or drm-lite. DCS World is a really poor example as it contain pretty intrusive DRM
 
The biggest problem with physical games - and the actual reason it fell off - is supply.

In the olden days, it wasn't uncommon to simply not be able to buy the games you wanted because you couldn't find it. The average player experience was to visit their local store and be content with what they offered there. If there was any specific game you wanted, depending on how niche or unknown it was, you simply wouldn't be getting it - this reality also led many people to resort to piracy.

Of course, if you lived in a big, metropolitan american or japanese city, it may not have been like that, but that is what the experience was for most players around the world. Then there were also games getting out of stock (which was the original reason pre-orders even existed), niche games with releases limited to only specific parts of the world, possibly having to visit multiple stores to find something you wanted... even with the rise of the internet you still had to deal with all the usual issues of ordering things online.

Compared to that, with digital games you simply pick the game you want out of all games available for sale in a global library (obviously there'll still be things like specific games blocked in certain reagions or whatnot, but still nowhere near the previous problems), swipe your card and ban you're already downloading it and it'll be ready to play in the next few minutes to hours depending on internet speed and game size.

...

Personally, i think the only way to save physical games - actually saving rather than letting them be relegated to niche, collectors products - is to devise a way to deliver the game content digitally while the physical disk/cartridge is prepared locally. Imagine something like going to a store, picking a game out of a catalogue, then they download the game on the store itself and use some type of official device supplied to retailers that copies the game into physical media right there.

You can more or less do that with things like GOG installers already, only problem is those are technically considered backup and can't be sold. The previous solution would keep physically-tied DRM, allowing you to sell them or easing whatever concerns the distributor has with piracy.
 
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Guilty_AI said:
If that's what you're worried about, most digital games are still drm-free or drm-lite. DCS World is a really poor example as it contain pretty intrusive DRM
Click to expand...

Most newer games dont. The example of DCS was to show how the same kind of game from the 1998 give less of a headache to one from today. And thats solves nothing of the control issue that you ignored, setting GOG aside all other platforms doesnt give you access to installers for your purchases.
 
I think after the next-generation, the big thing for Console hardware will be to stream games digitally and/or run them based on a cloud.

I just don't see how discs will continue into the late 2030s/ early 40s. What I could see is physical copies being collector's items.
 
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hououinkyouma00 said:
I think physical will continue down the road it's on now which is disappearing at a moderate pace. Physical is already dead on PC, and the console manufacturers want you to move to digital and it's working.

I'm all digital on all modern platforms (8th gen-present) outside of a few physical Switch/Switch 2 games but those are because I was able to buy Metroid Prime 4 and Mario Kart World for like $75 combined in Japan.

I think at most you'll see physical on PlayStation and Nintendo for one more generation.
Click to expand...
Capcom saying their 90% digital was a "WOW" moment. I also checked GameStops that were still open and I mean no offense to this - but they're all in places with lower earners now after the waves of shut downs. Places with people who earn more also have good internet and shop differently....
 
I think the AES+ shows there is a market stil for physical releases and collections. Now, the question is, is that because of the Neo Geo's uber status, or something more? Evercade is another example. There is an audience at least for older style products. Cuphead on Sega Master system, really? sign me up.

Physical releases will exist through speciality orders, pre-orders and kickstarters etc. The traditional methods of distrubution are going to die. This is exactly what they all want. Full control digital only.
 
They're just going to keep adding roadblocks like increased prices and disc drives sold separately until they eventually rip off the bandaid and go digital only.
 
Been digital on PC since oh... 2004? Half Life 2 right? Don't give a shit. BUT, that's because I keep a ~30 years worth of gaming history in a single library.

On Nintendo hardware I try to always have physical of course but that's because consoles have been terrible with the concept of backward compatibility and nintendo actually more than not pick up in value.

I don't think it'll last much longer the concept of physical though. I won't care when they pull the plug. If consoles are being dipshits again with BC, I'll just stay 100% PC.

For digital future, they should all look into blockchains, handshake of millions of transactions every minutes and could easily tackle digital ownership. Why there's no uproar over this is mind boggling to be honest. You could sell the game digitally. Ownership transfer, simple as that. Give the blockchain to gamestop even for resell. Timed ownerships for even a return of rentals. Share it with a friend while retaining ownership. You know, all things we could do with physical. Why the fuck digital has not went there yet is mind boggling. I guess because the fleecing is too good and they actually hate the principles of physical, which allows for sharing, selling, buying old, etc. Seem they don't want to give those features to digital while the technology is 100% there.
 
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KenaiPhoenix said:
Most newer games dont. The example of DCS was to show how the same kind of game from the 1998 give less of a headache to one from today.
Click to expand...
Really depends on the game, many disc-based games from that time used physical drm that relied on deprecated windows system archives. Try to run them today on modern machines without fan-fixes and you'll get locked out.

KenaiPhoenix said:
And thats solves nothing of the control issue that you ignored, setting GOG aside all other platforms doesnt give you access to installers for your purchases.
Click to expand...
Many steam games can be run directly from the game exe, others that utilize only steam-drm will still run offline as long as offline mode was set up, you can even copy game files along with the client and it'll run on different PCs. Truthfully, this latter one isn't 100% reliable, but can be easily bypassed just as with the case of old discs mentioned above.
 
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