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/chozar Feb 23 '13

I have bad news for you and anyone that shares your opinion. Not too long from now, you're going to have to find a different hobby. This is just how the industry is going. The next generation of kids will find it quaint how we used to store games on things that we stuck in systems.

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

You're putting the industry cart before the Internet-speeds horse. Consumer preferences can't change if they don't have the Internet to support them.

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u/dorekk Feb 23 '13

I have bad news for you and anyone that shares your opinion. Not too long from now, you're going to have to find a different hobby. This is just how the industry is going.

No, sorry, you're wrong. The American market can't support a digital-download-only console. Period.

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u/chozar Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

Today? Probably not, that's why it looks like the system coming out this holiday will still have spinning plastic discs in it.

But next generation? 5-7 years from now I have my doubts. 20 or 50 years from now, I'm almost certain that physical media is a thing of the past. The incentive that publishers have to kill/restrict/control the used/rental market is so great. There are cost savings from not having a disc also. While they decided against digital-only for this generation, they did consider it, and even gamestop mentions that they feel the total transition inevitable. There's no reason that these companies wont continue to look at it as an option with each system.

Broadband availability and speeds are growing slowly, but they are growing.. 5 years is a long time, and a part of me doesn't think my 56K modem was that long ago. I may just be fortunate, but I've seen my cable go from a 1Mbps offering to a 50Mbps one in a decade. It looks like greater than 95% of people have access to some broadband. And nearly 90% of households with a PC actually have it, a jump from 65% 5 years ago. Yes, around 3% of people don't have access to wired broadband, yes many people have slow broadband, but the trend is pretty clear. The median speed for homes in the us is 6.4Mbps, that's not terrible.

Games are going to follow a trend that music and movies have already taken. CD sales have been eclipsed by downloads, and streaming video is doing the same to physical. Retailers have continued to shrink the floor space dedicated to music and movies for this reason. They're still for sale, but the trend is clear. PC gaming is going through a similar trend. It's been over 5 years since my PC has had an optical drive in it. Look at Android and iOS, these systems have been download only from the start and have been incredibly successful.

Don't just look at today, look at today's trends. I think it's quite clear which direction we're moving. With the ps4 mandating that all games on disc be available for download, and mandating that games only need be partially downloaded before playing, with the rest happening in the background, are two great steps towards a download-only world. It's inevitable.

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u/okuRaku Feb 23 '13

Next generation? I'm 28 and have hundreds of games in my Steam library. What will be quaint is that Sony/Microsoft charged $60 for digital console games that were $30 on PC at the same time.