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I don’t give a fuck.
Even if the sales don’t support some invisible hand of the market, they can represent the influence of consumers.
So there isn’t enough numbers to change the world… yet you have a solid fifth of your purchases that follow a trend you should notice. Hell if a significant chunk leans one way… given margins it’s worth considering that voice.
Especially while you give voice to a random margin that says Fortnite dictates all…
I thought it was proven that during the Sony leaks it was found that they padded the numbers of physical copies sold and presented them in ways to benefit their stance.
Second, of course these numbers are going to be much lower if all you do is push digital over anything else and lower how many copies are even made making them harder to find and then not producing more to meet the demand.
Third, if your only selling keycode in box or a disc that just downloads the entire game instead of having the content on it then a lot less people will be willing to buy that as well.
If they want a true comparison they need to make the playing ground fair first, but we all know they love seeing this so it supports the one thing they keep preaching which is lower numbers. I know I am absolutely one of the statistics here. I purchased every game up until covid. I had a hard time finding a game that I absolutely wanted to play day 1 so I gave in and brought it digital. I caved more and more due to convienence, plus I absolutely do not see the point of buying key in box or game with download. Until they change that I can't see the point of buying physical anymore. I would love to if it was.
It’s weird that the article has downvotes.
Ultimately, it’s a fight for consumer rights, it’s one I support, but it needs good arguments behind it. The industry needs reasons to see “What you are doing is a bad idea”. Failing that, government legislation needs to see arguments “What this industry is doing is a bad idea.”
But the fastest way to kill your chance of winning those arguments? Show you don’t care about facts. This article is raw numbers. It’s a dim reality to work with. It doesn’t mean to shut up, but it does mean to think about the strategy, and that it will likely move beyond the “Vote with your wallet” effort.
Complaining on social media about things usually only worked because it affected sales. But Sony has seen evidence now that there are more people complaining than were ever buying discs. The complaints, absent sales, aren’t compelling to them.
Is this why they removed access to movies people already paid for? Because consumers wanted to be robbed?
You are accepting these numbers as fact, not questioning the source. A corporation that has cried wolf thousands of times is not corporation to trust.
They’ve been making it difficult to get physical copies for years. Case it point: try to get a copy of Baulders Gate 3. I had to go out of my way for a physical copy of Death Stranding 2.
If I don’t have the disc they can remove my ability to play it. Heck even with the disc they can remove my ability with all of the online requirements for games that DO NOT need them. And with digital only I can’t transfer my copy to another user so no after market sales which means more profit for them since everyone has to buy new.
So I’m not the slightest surprised that they would bring out this statistic. It fits their narrative to a tee.
Yeah, it almost like - get this - it's almost like people who want physical media want it in part because it's possible to buy it second hand for a cheaper price, or rent it from a library, or borrow it from a friend. Shocking stuff
I get where you're coming from, times are tough and it's good to save money where you can. If you're in a position where you can't afford to buy games new, don't take the rest of what I'm about to say as an indictment of you personally.
But surely you have to recognize that if you're not buying games new, you are literally worth nothing to these publishers. They don't make a single cent off of you. So from their perspective, why should they care about catering to you?
Voting with your wallet isn't just about boycotting the things you don't like. It's arguably much more important to actively financially support the things you want to see more of. If we as consumers want to convince these companies that there is still a market for physical games, we have to put our money where our mouth is and buy the things we claim to want. The only language corporations speak is money.
While I'm all for physical media, I get why things are going this way.
I have a large library of PS3 games I can just fire up and enjoy, offline.
With the PS4 and PS5, I can't think of a single game that works from the purchased disc. Everything requires huge download patches, to the point the disc is nothing more than a license to the game.
I think the bigger issue is game longevity and ownership.
If I buy a game, I expect to be able to play it, today, next year, ten years from now.
I have N64 games I still play on an original system from the 90s, they are mine.
Games, especially single player games, that require online connections to servers that can be taken away at any time is absolute bullshit.
I've spent a crazy amount of money on Rocksmith 2014 over the years, and when they pull the servers I'll lose access to hundreds of DLC songs.
I think that any game you buy, physical or download, should be yours, and if they need server access to run, the company should be required to provide the server source code, or a free patch, that allows you to continue to play the game, when they take the servers offline.
Only 1 point I can make is it's rare but there are still some that you can buy physical and still play it right away without internet. The newest one I can think of is The Adventures of Elliot. From the demo I played It's really good if you like older style Zelda games.
It's not rare. The majority of games released physically can still be installed and played without any internet connection.
With the PS4 and PS5, I can't think of a single game that works from the purchased disc.
I can't think of a single game that doesn't. I don't believe you've truly tried to play a PS4 or PS5 game from disc with internet disconnected. I believe that, because you just casually have internet connection active, that update downloads occur and you are taking that as necessary.
Over 90% of PS4 and PS5 games do not require internet connection to play after installed from disc.
With the PS4 and PS5, I can’t think of a single game that works from the purchased disc.
Have a look here: https://www.doesitplay.org/list
Yes cds are cool and all and I still appreciate being able to buy them but Lets Not kid ourselves that CDs are nothing more than keys nowadays
100% agree.
It's also like to add that passing on my games to my kids and the ability to sell my keys should also be on the table.
To be fair, I won’t buy anything for a locked down platform with a separate subscription for basic internet functionality.
All of this just dilutes the real issue. Ask the majority of people who are complaining about a lack of physical media why they want physical media, and they'll tell you that it's so corporations can't take it away from them after a year or two.
This can still happen with physical media. Physical media on consoles these days is already closer to a download key than a complete, ready-to-play game. At the same time, it's been proven possible to run a profitable business with DRM-free downloads. I'd suggest that AAA publishers use DRM for 12-24 months, then switch to DRM-free, because they're concerned about the critical initial sales period. This sort of thing has happened in the past on PC.
Physical media are no guarantee against corporations stealing their goods back after sale. Offline DRM or no DRM are.
"To ensure the best possible player experience, this game will not run until the latest updates have been installed... Downloading... Error: Resource not found. Please try again later."
The vast majority of games can be put into a console without internet connection, installed, and played in part or in whole. Nothing the publisher decides to do can change that without coming into my house and taking my disc.
If that’s the issue, ideally that would be the fight; require digital purchases to be retained in some way.
But even though many modern devices don’t have disc drives, many people believe Sony should want to retain a complex piece of hardware on their PlayStation as a check on themselves.
I just don’t see Sony being its own watchdog. It’s an important fight, but I think gamers need to reorient about what they want, why the company should want it, and if not, how it should be legislated.
It's because the people that care about owning physical media left PlayStation long ago because of their absolutely scummy business practices.
To be fair, I knew that PlayStation was shitty before they made this decision.
Luckily, I’ve just been borrowing from my library which is a thing that I know they hate. But wrecking that avenue of accessibility won’t generate sales.
On one hand, people really do want to own a media not rent it, and physical is the only thing that people can own. Until Sony assure that they won't ever remove a media and prevent people from access it, the fear will not subside.
On the other hand, the store is region locked. I was trying to find Stardew Valley in PS store and it's not available in my region. Stardew of all game, the biggest indie title. So the only option is physical. This is true for a lot of region that won't have some game for arbitrary reason.
Edit: technically it wasn't the only option, i haven't tried buying it in other region yet.
Sony can assure them, certainly.
They will just renege on the contract.
Yeah kina a fair point there.
Games when you buy them even if they are in disc format are dubiously licensed and not DRM-free anyway so like I dont get it - do gamers just want the illusion of owning games ?