Very late to the party, but Sony recently announced that they'll be stopping disc production in 2028.
I don't really do physical copies anymore as I mostly play on PC nowadays and we don't get disc releases, but this fucking sucks. It sucks for people who prefer physical releases, it sucks for people who want to own physical media, and it sucks for people who want to have a collection of games they like at home.
It looks like it's so fucking over for console, man. You won't be able to actually own anything anymore. Sony has a reputation for revoking access of digital items after purchase and without a refund, and I imagine shit will just get worse after they're done forcing people to go digital.
And trust me when I say it won't stop with Sony, Microslop and Nintendo will follow suit. Hell, Nintendo's already pushing people to buy digital, and there are rumors going around that the next xbox will be fully digital. Nintendo doesn't do sales, so, y'know, going full digital is just more profit for them.
I'm also worried about the future of game stores. Putting aside the fact that I have good memories of going to those as a kid, well... when game companies stop distributing physical copies of new games, what will happen to game stores? I don't see them surviving for long, unless they somehow figure out how to turn a profit from peripheral and merchandise sales, or if the physical market starts blowing up.
And considering the fact that my local game stores barely even sell merch/peripherals, I don't see them being able to stay afloat just by selling, I don't know, controllers and Minecraft merch or whatever. Many second-hand games aren't even That expensive, so I can't see them turning a profit out of those either. So many people are going to get fired.
Game prices keep going up, and you won't actually be able to own anything anymore, and you'll still need to pay to play online even if the hardware manufacturer is turning in more profits with game sales, and console prices are going up as well because we keep using console and PC parts to fuel AI slop and destroy our planet even more, and if you work at GameStop or a similar store you may end up getting fired because physical games won't be a thing anymore, and the people responsible for all of this shit don't give a fuck because they not only have enough money to not care but they're also probably going to die within the next 2 or 3 decades anyways, so who cares about consequences lmao.
It's fucking bleak.
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BootlegFriend
the one thing that's keeping me hopeful is that video games are one of those media formats where physical has always thrived, it feels like most CEOs are trying to gaslight people into thinking no one buys physical games anymore just because they don't have as big of numbers as there was say in the 2000s
I live by a lot of 2nd hand video game stores and they are still thriving, the modern console world will still probably become shittier, but I don't think physical games will completely disappear.
I really hope this is just a phase or some shit, because otherwise the console market looks kinda bleak to me.
Good to hear second hand stores are doing well! I really hope that, should the push to digital not be a phase of the industry, the 2nd hand market keeps thriving. It would suck if physical stores disappeared altogether.
by stenops; ; Report
with even physical movies and shows kinda making a comeback I hope at LEAST it'll make just enough profit for companies to go "ok FINE here's physical releases"
they DO still make physical Bluerays and DVDs of modern movies, its more expensive for games but games are more expensive to produce in general
by BootlegFriend; ; Report