Massive shift in UK console game sales to digital

KK wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:
<]:^D wrote:are you not scared buying a digital download that you wont be able to play it in the future?

Given the way patching and games as a service is going the same can increasingly be said of physical releases.

Isn't the new Call of Duty single player unplayable/locked out without the Day 1 patch to prevent early receivers playing before launch?

It's funny if you look back at the uproar surrounding Sim Shitty in 2013, then the always online connection with Xbox One, but here we are in 2017 with something like Gran Turismo Sport that is almost bust without an online connection.

It's like the loot box approach publishers are taking. Introduce it gradually and make it clear you can still avoid it completely (you can get everything in game, it's just cosmetic, etc), getting people used to it bit by bit, so that when you go full on it's not as much of a controversy.

Gemini73

<]:^D wrote:eh? Quake wasnt a digital download

Originally, no, but it's still available to play without a boxed copy required and has been for a very long time. This idea that ALL our digital games will suddenly disappear one morning is just paranoia. To be honest though if that scenario did happen then meh, not the end of the world. I'll cross that bridge when I come it.

Gemini73 wrote:
<]:^D wrote:eh? Quake wasnt a digital download

Originally, no, but it's still available to play without a boxed copy required and has been for a very long time. This idea that ALL our digital games will suddenly disappear one morning is just paranoia. To be honest though if that scenario did happen then meh, not the end of the world. I'll cross that bridge when I come it.

With the way Microsoft are working on backwards compatibility, there is an argument that going digital will actually protect your games better than relying on fragile discs and increasingly old and unreliable machines.

Gemini73

Moggy wrote:
Gemini73 wrote:
<]:^D wrote:eh? Quake wasnt a digital download

Originally, no, but it's still available to play without a boxed copy required and has been for a very long time. This idea that ALL our digital games will suddenly disappear one morning is just paranoia. To be honest though if that scenario did happen then meh, not the end of the world. I'll cross that bridge when I come it.

With the way Microsoft are working on backwards compatibility, there is an argument that going digital will actually protect your games better than relying on fragile discs and increasingly old and unreliable machines.

True enough.

Gemini73

jawafour wrote:
<]

[quote="Gemini73 wrote:...it's not unreasonable to assume that the next batch of consoles will be digital only. This might lead to lower pricing IF it's to be believed that one of the core reasons for AAA digital console pricing being high is to keep it in line with bricks and mortar retail.

I would love to think that publishers would start selling new games cheaper via the download channel... but, recognising how they are money-driven hives of evil, it’s probably unlikely.

Perhaps, but publishers are also aware that they can still gouge many users with MTs and DLC for a very long time, so why not make that initial digital price more attractive?

Without a physical model in place it could go either way.

I'm sticking with physical for my Switch, but with PC I've been digital-only for years now thanks to Steam and the like.

I have a handful of physical PS4 games, the rest are digital. I've been digital-only on my laptop for years, I don't think I've ever actually opened the disc-drive on it :lol:

I've disconnected the disk drive on my pc because i needed the power connector for a second SSD.

Gemini73

Guess EA were bang on the money...

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.euroga ... nd-of-2017

...and more than half of Destiny 2 sales on console were digital.

http://www.worldnews.easybranches.com/t ... ads-409588

The most ancient component of my current PC is the disc drive, which I have just carried over every time because it still works and I might as well have it and not need it than need it and not have it. However, I noticed a lot of newer PC cases forgo the front bay drives to save space, so it's time may be coming to an end.

I need a disc drive to rip cds so I can put them on my mp3 player

I have a Blu-ray drive just to rip my films for streaming via Plex but it's been years since I used the disc for a game.

I am still a buyer of discs, but only when they get cheap. Digital stuff is just the Game with Gold and EA Access, unless there is a good sale. I just cannot justify spending more than £20 on any game now.

It'd be great if all games featured a timed demo like Mafia 3 or South Park as standard, particularly Sony who don't yet have a decent refund policy like MS. Otherwise you could find yourself lumbered with a pile o shite.

Massive shift in UK console game sales to digital

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