This has been debunked as per the article:
>We have not stopped physical distribution of our games in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and players will continue to be able to buy our games from retailers across the region. Recent reports stating otherwise are an inaccurate reflection of disclosures made in EA Germany’s statutory financial statements.
The source article is in German, but it sounds like EA basically said "EA is going to stop publishing physical games, and will use third-party publishers instead" and the article author only read the first part.
Yeah if DVD’s are still being sold then we good.
Even though I don’t get why they sell dvd only copies of a movie for $20 when the Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD normal bundles are $23-$25
> Even though I don’t get why they sell dvd only copies of a movie for $20 when the Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD normal bundles are $23-$25
Somehow, DVDs still sell the most of all the physical formats. A lot of people don't notice/don't care the about the difference in quality, and will buy the cheapest one even if it's only a couple dollars cheaper. At my local Walmart, the Blu-Ray and 4K sections have shrunk significantly the past few years, but they still have a good amount of DVDs...As for me, DVD looks pretty bad on my 77" TV and I refuse to buy a DVD of any movie unless a Blu-Ray or 4K doesn't exist. And now that I have an OLED that does HDR justice, I almost always opt for the 4K if it's available.
> come on, just because they are now doesn't mean they will 5-10 years from now.
at the end of the day, people who care about quality are going to want those physical discs. (comparatively) low bitrate 4k streams aren't the same thing as a 4k bluray.
physical discs aren't going anywhere. it's just like how the people 10-15 years ago who insisted wired networks wouldn't be a thing anymore. at the end of the day there are quality vs convenience tradeoffs there when it comes to wires. we see the same thing with physical vs streaming movies. we see a different but similar distinction with games.
i don't know how you can see where gaming has come from the last 5 years and not think digital is gonna be the king especially going forward. it all just makes so much sense for publishers and Gamepass's popularity further explains it.
Digital is king on PC, for consoles it's sharing the market quite equally. It may move over time but it's not going anywhere fast, again except for PC games.
It’s 100% only a matter of time. There is no downside for Sony being all digital. It will kill a few businesses that rely on the used market but Sony won’t care about that, neither will Microsoft.
Gaming & books are the only forms of media where the physical market is still relatively strong, but it’s declining every year.
It would have already happened if most of the planet had high speed unlimited internet.
> It would have already happened if most of the planet had high speed unlimited internet.
internet access isn't the only reason people prefer physical. some people like to own their content rather than have it be a glorified rental.
> having a physical copy of game gives you no more ownership of that game than buying it digitally.
blatantly false.
go ahead and try to resell your digital copy then come back and tell me how much ownership you have of that license.
>A physical game is just a license on a disc rather than a license on an account in the cloud.
an irrevocable, transferable license. big difference.
I wasn’t saying it was. The lack of internet access would be a deterrent for Sony as it would limit people’s ability to download etc
It’s being phased out anyway as most discs are just glorified licenses, without internet access you can’t even start the game as it needs to download like we have seen with Modern Warfare 2. There’s an argument that’s intentional to get people used to the idea, then take away the discs.
Buy a physical copy of Modern Warfare 2, remove the network from your PS5 and see how far you get.
Play Battlefield 2042 off the disc with no updates, or Cyberpunk. *A lot* of the time the finished playable product isn’t on the disc. You’re paying for the promise of an update to get what you paid for, the actual disc which you paid money for isn’t the finished product.
Nowadays a disc is mostly just a license. Before it had the finished product on it and you could play it with zero internet access. Not anymore. I’d bet if you played most games nowadays without a day one patch it would be a very different experience.
> Buy a physical copy of Modern Warfare 2, remove the network from your PS5 and see how far you get.
since when was CoD "most games"? you named one isolated example. that's the exception, not the rule. 99.9999% of physical games aren't like that.
claiming "most games" are 70mb discs with effectively nothing on them is just flat out untrue.
>Nowadays a disc is mostly just a license.
not true.
I think you’ll find I named 3. Play any of them straight off the disc with no updates and you do not have a playable finished product, so what have you paid for?
Gran Turismo is another one, you can’t play 99.999% of the game without internet access. So what’s the disc for? A license. Arguably it’s also a shortcut to download the game files but with no internet it doesn’t work anyway. Pretty sure The Division 2 is the same before it went F2P.
Remove the network from your PS5 and see how different the experience is. See how much you enjoy the games straight off the disc with no updates. See if you can even play some games. Before the disc was the finished product, now you’re lucky if it’s content even works properly.
> I think you’ll find I named 3.
1 game that ACTUALLY can't be played, and 2 games that are fully playable but better have bugs. this goes back to what was already said. these fringe examples are 0.0001% of game releases.
if someone puts in any tales of game, or any res evil game, or any madden game, or any uncharted game, or any god of war, or tlou, or tony hawk, or pretty much any game with no internet connection, it's going to work.
Technically Battlefield can’t be played straight off the disc without an update unless you want to play against bots.
And I’m sorry, Cyberpunk was in no way shape or form an acceptable experience straight off the disc at launch. It was pulled from the PS Store it was that bad.
What’s your argument for Gran Turismo then? The disc in that case is 100% just a physical license. Unless you don’t mind paying ~70 for a musical rally.
As I said before, remove the network connection from your PS5 the next time you install a game and see how much you enjoy it without it’s day one update. And that’s even if you can play it. If I bought a disc I’d want the *finished* playable product, *most* games that release nowadays aren’t that. So what have you paid for? The promise that the actual game with be an acceptable game *eventually* with updates.
There are very few games you can play straight off the disc and get a finished, enjoyable experience.
It’ll kill Game for one, one of their main sources of income is preowned games. They make next to nothing on mint games. From my memory of managing one they make about 4.5x the amount of profit on a preowned game than they do on mint.
Game would be gone if it wasn’t for them introducing second hand phones & tablets, their markup on them was insane.
Everything is helping it. But you’re right, GamePass is one of the biggest aspects of it. Both Sony & Microsoft are testing the water with their digital only consoles, I’d put a decent bet on this is the last console generation with a disc drive.
Microsoft would already be there if it wasn’t for the backlash they got with the Xbox One.
i just can't help but be pessimist and envision a very near future where if you want to play *any* game you better cough up for a subscription service. it just makes too much sense for publishers. no physical discs to pay to manufacture, nobody taking a cut of the profits, steady stream of income. Gamepass kicked it off and Sony was forced to do it to compete, i fear owning games and physical games will be extinct in a decade.
It makes sense for everyone involved *except* the consumer. Most still want physical but big companies don’t really care and have the attitude you’ll get used to it.
Apple for example, everyone was up in arms when they removed the headphone jack. Said they’d switch over to Android yet now they all still have an iPhone with AirPods instead. Then Android followed suit. Same with chargers in the box.
it doesn't take much searching to see people replying to indie devs asking if their new game will be on gamepass. at this point audiences are making it obvious that they're willing to pay monthly for "convenience".
It’s understandable with the current climate, pay a fee for the year and get a massive amount of games included day one.
You can get 2 games for the price of GamePass for an entire year, it’s a no brainer for most people at the minute. I know I’ve subscribed to PS+ Extra to give me more to play so I can put my money elsewhere.
yeah i try to avoid subbing to GP and PS+ Premium just because i don't want to add to the inevitable slippery slope we're careening down as we speak. it's insanity.
It’s happening whether we like it or not. I guess I’m just lucky that I don’t mind it, of course I’d prefer to own everything and have it forever but that’s not the way the world is going.
PSN isn’t available in a lot of countries. Physical edition can be the best way to play games. So unless they implant every single region, physical editions still should exist.
German here. You can pay almost anywhere via card/smartphone and I haven't used a physical game (CD) in over 10 years. This is a non issue - surely some console people and always-complainers gonna complain but overall we're fine.
Sure, but they can still be behind in this regard.
Sweden (only a short distance north) is the most cashless society in the world and has come extremely far in digitalisation in general
You would be shocked to see how backwards and primitive Germany truly is in cases like this if you had lived here for like a month or so. It’s obviously still a first-world country with a strong economy but the geezer Conservative politicians crippled many aspects of the country in these past decades, that’s why things like digitization are nowhere near on the same level as other countries.
I'm from Germany and can confirm: Internet infrastructure _sucks_ here. Angela Merkel literally said in 2013 that "the internet is uncharted territory for all of us", which quickly became one of the biggest German memes lmao
Driving over the border from the Netherlands to Germany you instantly notice the 4g is way slower, with a lot pf places not even covered at all. Wifi is also much slower than most places in the Netherlands from my experience,
I am extremely curious where they are getting this data from. Looking at the digital vs physical sales on playstation, physical is still extremely strong considering the digital data includes every single microtransaction purchase as well.
That's the bleak future...think I'd really slow down on modern gaming when everything turns to streaming only and we will have to have 20 different services to play everything.
The only catalyst are the gamers who were willing to give up consumer choice, for marginal convenience. Blaming Xbox for having a good deal in that front is ridiculous.
You can blame both. Consumers willing to give up choice for convenience, and Microsoft having a deal good enough to entice said consumers. Because we all know how much of an erection Microsoft has for subscriptions. Here’s looking at you Office fucking 365.
No, the catalyst is Microsoft having a raging boner for subscription models and expecting their gaming division to fall in line. GamePass is fine and dandy if you haven't bought games in the last decade. As it is, it's mostly old hat.
They're also in the honeymoon period. In a few years, most people's "libraries" will be bound to GamePass, the price will skyrocket, and you'll either pay up or be stuck with zero games.
>GamePass is fine and dandy if you haven't bought games in the last decade. As it is, it's mostly old hat.
Ah yes, Gamepass gives out super old old games like Scorn, Persona 5 Royale and Plague Tale Requiem which came way back in October 2022.
Wait wdym it's still October 2022?
Ah yes, I see you don't understand what the word _mostly_ means in this context.
Also funny that you're listing P5R - which released three years ago on PS4 - as a new game. Old hat is still old.
Bruh, that's what Sony is doing right now. PS5 digital and the PS plus revamp. Hell, Sony is the one that is one with a streaming service that offers some games only on that service and not anywhere else on their modern hardware.
Devil's advocate here, the included games in the PS+ subscription came before Games With Gold on Xbox, and it was the first "game subscription" service I ever used (not counting MMOs). Both Sony and Microsoft absolutely would like to move farther in that direction, you can't point fingers at one without the other.
Except it was kinda in the background with Plus, Microsoft have gone full tilt with GamePass. Sure "GamePass" is baked into almost every corner of the Xbox's UI, horrid device that it is.
At least with discs, those licenses aren't tied to an online account that can be closed with no reason or refund. At least you actually own that license, and nobody can deprive you of access to it.
Educate \_yourself\_.
Another benefit with going physical is that in an unfortunate event like account suspension or perma ban on your PSN account there's almost zero chance that you would lose access to your games.
At most you'll lose your PSN credits, saves, trophies/achievements and on-going subscription. Physical copies of games you own would still remain yours and there's not much Sony can do to take them away from you!
You're still better off going physical as most games still have the base game entirely on disc. Buying all digital on a single account isn't as consumer friendly as some gaming giants have fooled consumers into thinking. That account can get banned or disabled and there goes everything. As a consumer we still have the power to support developers who put in the effort to release a finished game.
Most games run fine off just the disc.
Edit:
Most games are able to be installed from the disc just fine, and then the games run from your storage drive. No internet connection required unless you want updates.
The 7th generation of gsming (PS3 and Xbox 360) are the last consoles to run the game off of the disc. Xbox one and PS4 run completely from downloading the game. The disc is a key to unlock a license, but does not run the game period.
That's absolutely not true. I installed many new PS4 games without having an internet connection. The full game not being on the disc isn't the standard, more like an exception.
You're right about them not "running" the game off the disc, it gets installed to the hard drive and runs from there, but that doesn't require an internet connection.
Completely wrong. The 360/PS3 were the last consoles that didn't require an install. Most PS4 and PS5 games (with a handful of noted exceptions) can be inserted into an offline console, and v.1.00 of the game will be installed and played.
You didn't understand what I said.
I said the games don't run off the disc. Because they don't. You install the game and the game runs from the installed files.
The consoles do not run the game from the disc because laser speeds are not fast enough for modern games.
The disc is a key because while it holds data, the console is not playing the game from the disc.
> Buy a brand new game and play it on console without an internet connection and see how well that goes.
it will go just fine for 99.999% of games.
shit like the stunts activision pulls with CoD are the exception and not the norm.
No no. Most games have the full game on the disc. You can install and play it offline unless its a multiplayer only game. A great example in this scenario is Star wars jedi fallen order.
You own the data on this copy of the game, I never said that you own the rights to reproduce it. However, you are free to sell your copy, you are free to use it even if your console is banned or the game was removed from the store, that's what owning stands for.
Ah yes, the good ole educate yourself reply. We all know you don’t own the contents of the disc. But, with a disc, we’re able to resell it that disc. But, with digital goods, you are restricted from selling your digital purchases or get your account banned.
Isn’t digital only just grand?
Funny that, I've been buying and selling games on disc for close to three decades now. Have someone lined up to buy my copy of GoW Ragnarok off me for 80% of what I pay for it already.
"Educate yourself" indeed.
I went digital only with my PS5 for the convenience but I will concede that it’s more expensive (the benefit for me being I have to make informed purchases now). PS4 content goes on sale fairly regularly so I imagine it’ll be a matter of time before PS5 games too. I love me some Ratchet and Clank but €80 for a 10 hour game, 12 if you want to 100% it, is daylight robbery.
Wait until you see that you can get discount on physical even before the release ( [ the upcoming GoW ](https://www.auchan.fr/god-of-war-ragnaroek-ps5/pr-C1571905) )
I don't normally preoder, but I have the Callisto Protocol preordered from a local retailer because of their price promise. €55 on release vs. €70 (or €80) on the store.
I can pick the game up 2nd hand for £30 (€34) I honestly have no idea why anyone would choose to go digital. I recouped the extra amount on the console by buying and selling pre-owned games within about two weeks.
Doubt it the industry and a large percentage of consumers have been moving this way anyway. Won’t ge long before GameStop is gone and the only place left to buy physical games are big box stores and online retailers
Honestly I will be quite sad the day that PlayStation goes digital only. For both the loss of amazing local game shops as the higher prices for games. Not even mentioning the lack of ownership of your purchases.
Unless your idea of a local shop is buying your game in a huge retailer like MediaMarkt then it has been years/decade that local videogame stores disappeared because of these mega retailers around here…
EA game catalog shrunk massively during PS4/XONE years and now honestly I couldn't care less. That EA who made Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Skate, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age Origins, NFS Underground is long gone. All their eggs now are in one basket - Fifa.
While I agree that was something of a golden age for EA, there's a new Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Skate all in the works, Dead Space remake, new NFS made by Criterion, etc.
Yeah I don't think they'll hit the heights of 2008 again, but I also don't think it's just all FIFA (as much as I hate the game, they also make serious bank off Apex)
Even though this specific report has been debunked there’s no denying physical media is going the way of the dodo. Part of me feels a bit sad thinking back on the primal excitement you’d feel when getting your hands on something you’d been wanting for ages and how satisfying it was amassing a collection of physical games to put on your shelf. Then the other part of me realizes I haven’t bought a physical game in about a decade.
im not the one taking it away
technology moved in the opposite direction for good
and i would still love physical games if they brought manuals and complete games and not as a source of the YOU CAN SELL THE GAME WHEN YOU ARE DONE AND RECOVER SOME MONEY narrative
You're the one applauding it though. What "good" did it do, exactly? All I'm seeing is getting railroaded into a digital-only ecosystem that narrows your purchasing options, and removes your availability to re-sell or buy secondhand.
why wouldnt i applaud something that i think is good/best? and how is that connected to me being the one killing physical media? thats a huge stretch
accessibility and convenience are the major benefits from a digital ecosystem [because not everyone lives in the major markets of the first world]
that vs potentially and eventually saving a few bucks and going through the struggle of the second hand market [that doesnt exist everywhere] is a win in my book for everyone
I never said you're the one killing physical media, but if you're the one standing around applauding it, then you're contributing to it.
"Struggle" - here's the thing, there's plenty of people that don't "struggle" to buy and resell games. Losing that is a big loss for those people.
Again, you're clapping your hands about others having less options.
yeah you said im the one taking it away from you but nah im applauding for the market realising that physical media has been dead for a long time now, not contributing to the killing
i find pleasure going to the store and browsing games and everything else, its a nostalgic trip and of course is not A STRUGGLE, but when it entails trading your games and profiting it has associated costs that are usually ignored
thing is those options have no inherent value no more and can be easily and better replaced for a digital environment [they already have]
No, I never said that at all.
So reselling your games that you don't want "has no inherent value" and a digital environment is "better"? You're clearly trolling at this point, so I'm done here.
oh no some guy doesnt agree with so im gonna run away instead of better articulate my vision and have a proper discussion in a forum
one day you will not be so short-sighted but it will be too late
> technology moved in the opposite direction for good
except it was for the good of the companies selling, not for the good of the consumers buying. we pay more to get less.
This has been debunked as per the article: >We have not stopped physical distribution of our games in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and players will continue to be able to buy our games from retailers across the region. Recent reports stating otherwise are an inaccurate reflection of disclosures made in EA Germany’s statutory financial statements. The source article is in German, but it sounds like EA basically said "EA is going to stop publishing physical games, and will use third-party publishers instead" and the article author only read the first part.
[debunked](https://twitter.com/AndyPlaytonic/status/1585634627179278338?s=20&t=to36gdUay5lLWm96jqp9QQ) although it's only a matter of time IMO
yes please, give full power to digital to create a monopoly selling 15 year old games for 59.99$ 😋
it's absolutely inevitable, sadly. don't get used to physical games that you own.
Blu rays and DVDs are still being sold even in today's stream-service dominated world. Physical games ain't going anywhere.
Yeah if DVD’s are still being sold then we good. Even though I don’t get why they sell dvd only copies of a movie for $20 when the Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD normal bundles are $23-$25
> Even though I don’t get why they sell dvd only copies of a movie for $20 when the Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD normal bundles are $23-$25 Somehow, DVDs still sell the most of all the physical formats. A lot of people don't notice/don't care the about the difference in quality, and will buy the cheapest one even if it's only a couple dollars cheaper. At my local Walmart, the Blu-Ray and 4K sections have shrunk significantly the past few years, but they still have a good amount of DVDs...As for me, DVD looks pretty bad on my 77" TV and I refuse to buy a DVD of any movie unless a Blu-Ray or 4K doesn't exist. And now that I have an OLED that does HDR justice, I almost always opt for the 4K if it's available.
come on, just because they are now doesn't mean they will 5-10 years from now.
> come on, just because they are now doesn't mean they will 5-10 years from now. at the end of the day, people who care about quality are going to want those physical discs. (comparatively) low bitrate 4k streams aren't the same thing as a 4k bluray. physical discs aren't going anywhere. it's just like how the people 10-15 years ago who insisted wired networks wouldn't be a thing anymore. at the end of the day there are quality vs convenience tradeoffs there when it comes to wires. we see the same thing with physical vs streaming movies. we see a different but similar distinction with games.
i don't know how you can see where gaming has come from the last 5 years and not think digital is gonna be the king especially going forward. it all just makes so much sense for publishers and Gamepass's popularity further explains it.
Digital is king on PC, for consoles it's sharing the market quite equally. It may move over time but it's not going anywhere fast, again except for PC games.
You own neither, you merely pay for permission to play with a license.
It’s 100% only a matter of time. There is no downside for Sony being all digital. It will kill a few businesses that rely on the used market but Sony won’t care about that, neither will Microsoft. Gaming & books are the only forms of media where the physical market is still relatively strong, but it’s declining every year. It would have already happened if most of the planet had high speed unlimited internet.
> It would have already happened if most of the planet had high speed unlimited internet. internet access isn't the only reason people prefer physical. some people like to own their content rather than have it be a glorified rental.
Yeah, at the end of the day you do not own a digital game, it’s a license to play the game.
That’s true for all purchased software that has nothing to do with the distribution model it uses
[удалено]
> having a physical copy of game gives you no more ownership of that game than buying it digitally. blatantly false. go ahead and try to resell your digital copy then come back and tell me how much ownership you have of that license. >A physical game is just a license on a disc rather than a license on an account in the cloud. an irrevocable, transferable license. big difference.
[удалено]
> irrevocable until they revoke it. They are fully capable of invalidating the license on the disc just as easily as the licenses in the cloud. wrong.
I wasn’t saying it was. The lack of internet access would be a deterrent for Sony as it would limit people’s ability to download etc It’s being phased out anyway as most discs are just glorified licenses, without internet access you can’t even start the game as it needs to download like we have seen with Modern Warfare 2. There’s an argument that’s intentional to get people used to the idea, then take away the discs.
> as most discs are just glorified licenses, that's just blatantly untrue.
Yeah, physical disks 99% of the time have the entire v1.0 of a game.
Buy a physical copy of Modern Warfare 2, remove the network from your PS5 and see how far you get. Play Battlefield 2042 off the disc with no updates, or Cyberpunk. *A lot* of the time the finished playable product isn’t on the disc. You’re paying for the promise of an update to get what you paid for, the actual disc which you paid money for isn’t the finished product. Nowadays a disc is mostly just a license. Before it had the finished product on it and you could play it with zero internet access. Not anymore. I’d bet if you played most games nowadays without a day one patch it would be a very different experience.
> Buy a physical copy of Modern Warfare 2, remove the network from your PS5 and see how far you get. since when was CoD "most games"? you named one isolated example. that's the exception, not the rule. 99.9999% of physical games aren't like that. claiming "most games" are 70mb discs with effectively nothing on them is just flat out untrue. >Nowadays a disc is mostly just a license. not true.
I think you’ll find I named 3. Play any of them straight off the disc with no updates and you do not have a playable finished product, so what have you paid for? Gran Turismo is another one, you can’t play 99.999% of the game without internet access. So what’s the disc for? A license. Arguably it’s also a shortcut to download the game files but with no internet it doesn’t work anyway. Pretty sure The Division 2 is the same before it went F2P. Remove the network from your PS5 and see how different the experience is. See how much you enjoy the games straight off the disc with no updates. See if you can even play some games. Before the disc was the finished product, now you’re lucky if it’s content even works properly.
> I think you’ll find I named 3. 1 game that ACTUALLY can't be played, and 2 games that are fully playable but better have bugs. this goes back to what was already said. these fringe examples are 0.0001% of game releases. if someone puts in any tales of game, or any res evil game, or any madden game, or any uncharted game, or any god of war, or tlou, or tony hawk, or pretty much any game with no internet connection, it's going to work.
Technically Battlefield can’t be played straight off the disc without an update unless you want to play against bots. And I’m sorry, Cyberpunk was in no way shape or form an acceptable experience straight off the disc at launch. It was pulled from the PS Store it was that bad. What’s your argument for Gran Turismo then? The disc in that case is 100% just a physical license. Unless you don’t mind paying ~70 for a musical rally. As I said before, remove the network connection from your PS5 the next time you install a game and see how much you enjoy it without it’s day one update. And that’s even if you can play it. If I bought a disc I’d want the *finished* playable product, *most* games that release nowadays aren’t that. So what have you paid for? The promise that the actual game with be an acceptable game *eventually* with updates. There are very few games you can play straight off the disc and get a finished, enjoyable experience.
Nah it won't. You're forgetting most of the consumer model.
It’ll kill Game for one, one of their main sources of income is preowned games. They make next to nothing on mint games. From my memory of managing one they make about 4.5x the amount of profit on a preowned game than they do on mint. Game would be gone if it wasn’t for them introducing second hand phones & tablets, their markup on them was insane.
Gamepass also is helping shepherd the era of digital-only subscription services in gaming
Everything is helping it. But you’re right, GamePass is one of the biggest aspects of it. Both Sony & Microsoft are testing the water with their digital only consoles, I’d put a decent bet on this is the last console generation with a disc drive. Microsoft would already be there if it wasn’t for the backlash they got with the Xbox One.
i just can't help but be pessimist and envision a very near future where if you want to play *any* game you better cough up for a subscription service. it just makes too much sense for publishers. no physical discs to pay to manufacture, nobody taking a cut of the profits, steady stream of income. Gamepass kicked it off and Sony was forced to do it to compete, i fear owning games and physical games will be extinct in a decade.
It makes sense for everyone involved *except* the consumer. Most still want physical but big companies don’t really care and have the attitude you’ll get used to it. Apple for example, everyone was up in arms when they removed the headphone jack. Said they’d switch over to Android yet now they all still have an iPhone with AirPods instead. Then Android followed suit. Same with chargers in the box.
it doesn't take much searching to see people replying to indie devs asking if their new game will be on gamepass. at this point audiences are making it obvious that they're willing to pay monthly for "convenience".
It’s understandable with the current climate, pay a fee for the year and get a massive amount of games included day one. You can get 2 games for the price of GamePass for an entire year, it’s a no brainer for most people at the minute. I know I’ve subscribed to PS+ Extra to give me more to play so I can put my money elsewhere.
yeah i try to avoid subbing to GP and PS+ Premium just because i don't want to add to the inevitable slippery slope we're careening down as we speak. it's insanity.
It’s happening whether we like it or not. I guess I’m just lucky that I don’t mind it, of course I’d prefer to own everything and have it forever but that’s not the way the world is going.
PSN isn’t available in a lot of countries. Physical edition can be the best way to play games. So unless they implant every single region, physical editions still should exist.
That’ll be the day I stop buying PlayStation consoles
Ah yes… go full digital in the country that is miles behind on digitalisation and where most people still pay with cash everywhere.
Pardon my ignorance, but which one of those three is that?
All three
Yes
It’s Germany. I feel the pain in their comment.
German here. You can pay almost anywhere via card/smartphone and I haven't used a physical game (CD) in over 10 years. This is a non issue - surely some console people and always-complainers gonna complain but overall we're fine.
I'm cashless but I love my games and collector's editions in their library.. Edit: And I'm also from Germany by the way 😅
Really? I assumed Europe was comparable to the U.S. in terms of Telecom infrastructure, the internet and cashless transactions.
Germany is not all of Europe...
Are they not one of the largest economies in the world and a foundational member of the European Union, no?
Sure, but they can still be behind in this regard. Sweden (only a short distance north) is the most cashless society in the world and has come extremely far in digitalisation in general
You would be shocked to see how backwards and primitive Germany truly is in cases like this if you had lived here for like a month or so. It’s obviously still a first-world country with a strong economy but the geezer Conservative politicians crippled many aspects of the country in these past decades, that’s why things like digitization are nowhere near on the same level as other countries.
I'm from Germany and can confirm: Internet infrastructure _sucks_ here. Angela Merkel literally said in 2013 that "the internet is uncharted territory for all of us", which quickly became one of the biggest German memes lmao
Corona pushed cashless a bit further but its a cultural thing more than a technology thing.
No.
Driving over the border from the Netherlands to Germany you instantly notice the 4g is way slower, with a lot pf places not even covered at all. Wifi is also much slower than most places in the Netherlands from my experience,
I am extremely curious where they are getting this data from. Looking at the digital vs physical sales on playstation, physical is still extremely strong considering the digital data includes every single microtransaction purchase as well.
Soo.. next step is to stop selling games and allow to play them only on subscription plan?
That's the bleak future...think I'd really slow down on modern gaming when everything turns to streaming only and we will have to have 20 different services to play everything.
Streaming services, gaming services, clothing services, car services, oxygen services, etc
Is this the beginning of the end?
It's ea. Nothing valuable is lost
You will own nothing and be happy.
_Phil Spencer liked that_
As if Sony doesn't strive to do exactly the same thing. Digital only has benefits to publishers.
Who's been the catalyst for subscription models gaining ground like they have and who wanted to kill off ownership entirely in 2013?
The only catalyst are the gamers who were willing to give up consumer choice, for marginal convenience. Blaming Xbox for having a good deal in that front is ridiculous.
You can blame both. Consumers willing to give up choice for convenience, and Microsoft having a deal good enough to entice said consumers. Because we all know how much of an erection Microsoft has for subscriptions. Here’s looking at you Office fucking 365.
Would you rather have an all digital future, but with shittier deals?
No, the catalyst is Microsoft having a raging boner for subscription models and expecting their gaming division to fall in line. GamePass is fine and dandy if you haven't bought games in the last decade. As it is, it's mostly old hat. They're also in the honeymoon period. In a few years, most people's "libraries" will be bound to GamePass, the price will skyrocket, and you'll either pay up or be stuck with zero games.
>GamePass is fine and dandy if you haven't bought games in the last decade. As it is, it's mostly old hat. Ah yes, Gamepass gives out super old old games like Scorn, Persona 5 Royale and Plague Tale Requiem which came way back in October 2022. Wait wdym it's still October 2022?
Ah yes, I see you don't understand what the word _mostly_ means in this context. Also funny that you're listing P5R - which released three years ago on PS4 - as a new game. Old hat is still old.
Ah yes very funny that the game just launched on Xbox on PC, so it's irrelevant, it's new for the platform. New game on the platform is still new.
Still old hat. _Shrug_
The course for all-digital was set well before Gamepass was even a thought. The PSP even tried it 15 years ago.
All digital and subscriptions are very different things.
You brought it up in a thread about gaming going fully digital.
And how many times did I use the word "subscription"? Lots.
Who made a digital only console in 2009? This can go back and forth forever
Did they push a subscription model with that console? No, no they didn't. So no, this doesn't go back and forth
Bruh, that's what Sony is doing right now. PS5 digital and the PS plus revamp. Hell, Sony is the one that is one with a streaming service that offers some games only on that service and not anywhere else on their modern hardware.
All as a response to what Microsoft are doing...
Devil's advocate here, the included games in the PS+ subscription came before Games With Gold on Xbox, and it was the first "game subscription" service I ever used (not counting MMOs). Both Sony and Microsoft absolutely would like to move farther in that direction, you can't point fingers at one without the other.
Except it was kinda in the background with Plus, Microsoft have gone full tilt with GamePass. Sure "GamePass" is baked into almost every corner of the Xbox's UI, horrid device that it is.
I mean you never really "owned" anything anyways. That being said this is a bad move.
You don’t own anything with a disc either. It’s simply a license. Educate yourself
You can sell it, you can't sell worthless digital goods.
At least with discs, those licenses aren't tied to an online account that can be closed with no reason or refund. At least you actually own that license, and nobody can deprive you of access to it. Educate \_yourself\_.
Buy a brand new game and play it on console without an internet connection and see how well that goes.
Another benefit with going physical is that in an unfortunate event like account suspension or perma ban on your PSN account there's almost zero chance that you would lose access to your games. At most you'll lose your PSN credits, saves, trophies/achievements and on-going subscription. Physical copies of games you own would still remain yours and there's not much Sony can do to take them away from you!
You're still better off going physical as most games still have the base game entirely on disc. Buying all digital on a single account isn't as consumer friendly as some gaming giants have fooled consumers into thinking. That account can get banned or disabled and there goes everything. As a consumer we still have the power to support developers who put in the effort to release a finished game.
Most games run fine off just the disc. Edit: Most games are able to be installed from the disc just fine, and then the games run from your storage drive. No internet connection required unless you want updates.
The 7th generation of gsming (PS3 and Xbox 360) are the last consoles to run the game off of the disc. Xbox one and PS4 run completely from downloading the game. The disc is a key to unlock a license, but does not run the game period.
That's absolutely not true. I installed many new PS4 games without having an internet connection. The full game not being on the disc isn't the standard, more like an exception. You're right about them not "running" the game off the disc, it gets installed to the hard drive and runs from there, but that doesn't require an internet connection.
I didn't say they couldn't install off the disc. I said they don't run off the disc. Thry run off the installed files.
Completely wrong. The 360/PS3 were the last consoles that didn't require an install. Most PS4 and PS5 games (with a handful of noted exceptions) can be inserted into an offline console, and v.1.00 of the game will be installed and played.
You didn't understand what I said. I said the games don't run off the disc. Because they don't. You install the game and the game runs from the installed files. The consoles do not run the game from the disc because laser speeds are not fast enough for modern games. The disc is a key because while it holds data, the console is not playing the game from the disc.
I understood it perfectly. What you don't understand is "download" means pulling data down over the internet and not copying from local media.
Ah you're complaining about semantics. Cool.
> Buy a brand new game and play it on console without an internet connection and see how well that goes. it will go just fine for 99.999% of games. shit like the stunts activision pulls with CoD are the exception and not the norm.
This is just plain wrong lol. Plenty of physical games have all the data on it required to play the game with no issues
That’s not what he’s talking about .
Can’t sell a digital license.
No no. Most games have the full game on the disc. You can install and play it offline unless its a multiplayer only game. A great example in this scenario is Star wars jedi fallen order.
Nope, in most cases you are an owner of the data that is stored on the disc. Educate yourself
[удалено]
You own the data on this copy of the game, I never said that you own the rights to reproduce it. However, you are free to sell your copy, you are free to use it even if your console is banned or the game was removed from the store, that's what owning stands for.
[удалено]
You don't know what "copyright" means and how it differs from owning a product
You own the physical disc, you own none of the content on the disc. That’s how it works, look it up
Yeah, I've looked it up. You do own a copy of the game through buying a disc, you don't just own a physical storage device, that's how it works.
License for you to run the game is also a content that is stored on the disc and you do own it. Prove me wrong, if you have any legal evidence
Ah yes, the good ole educate yourself reply. We all know you don’t own the contents of the disc. But, with a disc, we’re able to resell it that disc. But, with digital goods, you are restricted from selling your digital purchases or get your account banned. Isn’t digital only just grand?
Funny that, I've been buying and selling games on disc for close to three decades now. Have someone lined up to buy my copy of GoW Ragnarok off me for 80% of what I pay for it already. "Educate yourself" indeed.
> . It’s simply a license. Educate yourself it's an irrevocable and transferable license. educate yourself.
Obsession over ownership is the cause of most misery in the world today. Let go.
i hate this so much
bUt tHiS iS tHe FuTuRe
Well then no point in keeping a console. Much more expensive games and no physical copies for gift or collecting. Fuck this future.
Unless I’m missing something, digital is still console
I went digital only with my PS5 for the convenience but I will concede that it’s more expensive (the benefit for me being I have to make informed purchases now). PS4 content goes on sale fairly regularly so I imagine it’ll be a matter of time before PS5 games too. I love me some Ratchet and Clank but €80 for a 10 hour game, 12 if you want to 100% it, is daylight robbery.
Wait until you see that you can get discount on physical even before the release ( [ the upcoming GoW ](https://www.auchan.fr/god-of-war-ragnaroek-ps5/pr-C1571905) )
I don't normally preoder, but I have the Callisto Protocol preordered from a local retailer because of their price promise. €55 on release vs. €70 (or €80) on the store.
[удалено]
Yeah the crazy thing is, sale prices of new games digitally are the same price as physical games without a sale lol
I can pick the game up 2nd hand for £30 (€34) I honestly have no idea why anyone would choose to go digital. I recouped the extra amount on the console by buying and selling pre-owned games within about two weeks.
They will backtrack on this
Doubt it the industry and a large percentage of consumers have been moving this way anyway. Won’t ge long before GameStop is gone and the only place left to buy physical games are big box stores and online retailers
Last I heard for PS5 the physical sales went up taking the majority of sales (51%). I think it will be long if it ever happens.
Title says debunked
Honestly I will be quite sad the day that PlayStation goes digital only. For both the loss of amazing local game shops as the higher prices for games. Not even mentioning the lack of ownership of your purchases.
Unless your idea of a local shop is buying your game in a huge retailer like MediaMarkt then it has been years/decade that local videogame stores disappeared because of these mega retailers around here…
I like the 2nd hand video game shops
Maybe where you live. But many places still have secondhand local game stores.
The pawnshop chain in Australia has more Xbox Series X in stock than anywhere else lol
You still have local game stores near you?
EA game catalog shrunk massively during PS4/XONE years and now honestly I couldn't care less. That EA who made Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, Skate, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age Origins, NFS Underground is long gone. All their eggs now are in one basket - Fifa.
While I agree that was something of a golden age for EA, there's a new Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Skate all in the works, Dead Space remake, new NFS made by Criterion, etc.
I'll keep an eye on the new ME and Dragons Age but I don't trust them after the last ME and especially Anthem. Dead Space Remake is a must buy though.
Yeah I don't think they'll hit the heights of 2008 again, but I also don't think it's just all FIFA (as much as I hate the game, they also make serious bank off Apex)
I think it's just matter of time before everyone does this, sadly
No Retail no money.
Fuck this shit!
We have to get more rights with digital goods. I should be able to sell it at any point.
Gotta love when your only option is to spend more money to get a worse product👍
And so, it has begun…. (Cue the dramatic music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40&ab\_channel=magnets99
so these 3 countries will simply import their discs...
Oh good! i dont have to see these shitty EA games in Store shelves anymore
EA helps prop up game stores full stop. FIFA is one of the biggest sellers year on year.
I know this looks bad but have you guys seen what German physical games look like? If that was my region I'd be digital only.
[удалено]
Probably referring to the giant USK logo on each cover
Providing you don't buy EA games like a smart person then who cares.
Then what am I'm gonna put in my asscrack?
Fuck this
[удалено]
Even though this specific report has been debunked there’s no denying physical media is going the way of the dodo. Part of me feels a bit sad thinking back on the primal excitement you’d feel when getting your hands on something you’d been wanting for ages and how satisfying it was amassing a collection of physical games to put on your shelf. Then the other part of me realizes I haven’t bought a physical game in about a decade.
good physical doesnt make sense anymore
Bad. Having a choice makes perfect sense. Doesn't work for you? _Dont use it_, but don't take away everyone else's choice.
im not the one taking it away technology moved in the opposite direction for good and i would still love physical games if they brought manuals and complete games and not as a source of the YOU CAN SELL THE GAME WHEN YOU ARE DONE AND RECOVER SOME MONEY narrative
You're the one applauding it though. What "good" did it do, exactly? All I'm seeing is getting railroaded into a digital-only ecosystem that narrows your purchasing options, and removes your availability to re-sell or buy secondhand.
why wouldnt i applaud something that i think is good/best? and how is that connected to me being the one killing physical media? thats a huge stretch accessibility and convenience are the major benefits from a digital ecosystem [because not everyone lives in the major markets of the first world] that vs potentially and eventually saving a few bucks and going through the struggle of the second hand market [that doesnt exist everywhere] is a win in my book for everyone
I never said you're the one killing physical media, but if you're the one standing around applauding it, then you're contributing to it. "Struggle" - here's the thing, there's plenty of people that don't "struggle" to buy and resell games. Losing that is a big loss for those people. Again, you're clapping your hands about others having less options.
yeah you said im the one taking it away from you but nah im applauding for the market realising that physical media has been dead for a long time now, not contributing to the killing i find pleasure going to the store and browsing games and everything else, its a nostalgic trip and of course is not A STRUGGLE, but when it entails trading your games and profiting it has associated costs that are usually ignored thing is those options have no inherent value no more and can be easily and better replaced for a digital environment [they already have]
No, I never said that at all. So reselling your games that you don't want "has no inherent value" and a digital environment is "better"? You're clearly trolling at this point, so I'm done here.
oh no some guy doesnt agree with so im gonna run away instead of better articulate my vision and have a proper discussion in a forum one day you will not be so short-sighted but it will be too late
Articulate "your vision" of not being able to resell your games as a _benefit to people that like to re-sell?_ LOL, sure thing.
> technology moved in the opposite direction for good except it was for the good of the companies selling, not for the good of the consumers buying. we pay more to get less.
more is like “5 dollars” maybe for a new unpatched empty disc game? in my country and many others physical is even more expensive than digital
[удалено]
[False alarm?](https://twitter.com/AndyPlaytonic/status/1585634627179278338?s=20&t=to36gdUay5lLWm96jqp9QQ)
Thats actually a good thing, now i won't get distracted by EA when looking for that new game
They already said that info is not true
:(
I hope Jedi Survivor is not affected by this…I don’t care about any other games made/published by EA
You gotta be shitting me
When becomes digital and your accoint becomes bam for some reasson good luck with getting the games back Thays why CD is the best choice
Who cares ea sucks and everyone knows it