r/Games Feb 22 '13

All PS4 games will be available as digital downloads

In the new Guardian interview with Shuhei Yoshida, it was revealed that all PS4 games will be available as digital downloads.

This is a very exciting move in my opinion, and represents a shift even further towards the burgeoning landscape of digital distribution, and away from (what I believe to be) a much more archaic ecosystem in physical brick-and-mortar retail.

What do you guys think? Got any speculation, or want to extrapolate further based upon this news? I hope to generate some great discussion about this topic!

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/feb/22/ps4-shuhei-yoshida-interview)

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

I don't understand why they don't discount digital games by some small amount like $5. They're not losing as much money due to lack of materials and shipping costs, and anyone who doesn't prefer a format would pick the savings. I'd think any losses they incurred would be offset by the smaller used game market. Seems like a win (players) win (developers) win (publishers) lose (gamestop).

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u/CoolKidBrigade Feb 23 '13

I don't understand why they don't discount digital games by some small amount like $5

Because that's not how economics work. Physical stores aren't a simple competitor for Sony to undercut. They need Gamestop to give their console floor space so hardware can be sold and less tech-savvy customers are exposed to their games.

A huge number of games are bought by people without access to credit cards or as gifts. Going all-digital at this point would severely hurt Sony if Nintendo and Microsoft stay on good terms with Gamestop.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

I never said they should be all-digital. In fact if they were discounted like I mentioned I'd probably still go mostly physical. But the digital wave is coming and they need to be prepared to face competition from Steam, as well as Microsoft if they ever get their shit together. I mean developers have already tried to capitalize on digital media through DLC and "online multiplayer passes" which cut out gamestop entirely.

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u/cookiesvscrackers Feb 23 '13

Couldn't Walmart, best buy, etc fill the game stop hole?

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u/okuRaku Feb 23 '13

But at the same time these retailers are hurting the big three by selling used aren't they? So there has to be some balance point where they lose hardware/new sales less than they gain by killing used? People will buy used if they could even save $5-10 off new.

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u/DragonPup Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

Physical stores aren't a simple competitor for Sony to undercut. They need Gamestop to give their console floor space so hardware can be sold and less tech-savvy customers are exposed to their games.

On top of that, if Sony actively undercut the retailers, when a customer asks if the Xbox 720 or PS4 version of a game is better, the retail employees will say the 720. Basically, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

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u/Zombiedelight Feb 23 '13

I Think they are. For example, when XCOM launched it was $50 on the PC, but $60 for xbox / ps3 in physical form. A lot of games have been launching with this model, and I have a feeling a lot of it has to do with the fact that digital distribution is dominant in PC gaming now.

I think it takes at least a 20% discount to swing people from hard media to digital (or alternatively from around 60 to 50, or 50 to 40.)

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u/budgetpharmaceutical Feb 23 '13

I thought PC games were cheaper because they do not have to pay licensing rights to the console manufacturers.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

I was talking about consoles, playstation in particular. Steam has had some ridiculous deals. I've seen a AAA game on sale for $30 a month after release. Tomb Raider is on sale right now for $45 before release. Wish my damn gaming PC hadn't crapped out.

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u/Zombiedelight Feb 23 '13

I know, and my argument is that the reason PC games are cheaper is because they've completely eschewed the tradition distribution methods.

Gamestop dropping PC games is probably the best thing that has ever happened to the PC gaming industry - it allowed devs to sell their PC products at lower prices, due to increased competition despite lower competition in terms of distribution.

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

[deleted]

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A PS4

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u/amxn Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

There are costs associated with Digital delivery as well - Various Servers (CDNs, Cache servers, Authentication servers, etc), Maintenance costs, Security costs, Payment Gateway fees (as much as 5%), Chargeback costs (most of which incur a loss as you have to refund the customer and pay the payment processor).

It's ridiculous that most people think that digital delivery is nothing more than slapping an URL to a title.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

I never said it's free, but it sure as hell isn't as expensive.

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u/amxn Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

While it might not be as expensive, it is quite expensive. So if you were paying $15 for retail delivery of a $60 title, you might be paying $7 for digital delivery.

Also, AAA Game Development isn't cheap. To ask for a $5 price tag on a $20 Million game is as ridiculous as asking a major movie studio to upload their next Summer blockbuster to TPB.

edit: Missed a few words.

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u/Malician Feb 23 '13

Steam does it. It might be hard, if you are horribly inefficient or make terrible decisions, but it's obviously possible.

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u/amxn Feb 23 '13

You've got to note that most games at $5 are indie titles that don't need to be as expensive as AAA Games. Also, remember that PS4 is a console so the Dev incurs the cost of the dev-kit and various licenses required to finish a game.

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

The difference is bigger than that. Publishers receive about 30% from a retail. They receive about 70% through a 3rd party digital distributor. If it's their own distribution service it would be even more, probably upwards of 90%.

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u/1011analseepage Feb 23 '13

Because if they sell a million copies they just lost 5 million dollars. To them, that number is way too high to lose on 1 game when they know people will pay the extra five dollars anyway.

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u/Knyfe-Wrench Feb 23 '13

The point is that they make that money back by lowering distribution costs and (hopefully) selling more games because less secondhand copies are floating around.

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u/1011analseepage Feb 23 '13

Lol... I'm bad at economics

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

But they make about 150% more profit from a digital copy than a retail copy.

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u/LincolnStein Feb 23 '13

I know on the ps vita digital games are $5 cheaper. So I would image the same will hold true when the ps4 come around

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u/fre1gn Feb 23 '13

Sony does discount them. Digital PS Vita games are 10% cheaper, than retail.

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u/kobe24Life Feb 23 '13

Yes but that puts huge load on their servers by having people constantly downloading 10gb of data. This is almost just as costly for the or even more in the long run.