The Rise of Digital Games

I remember playing video games on the Nintendo 64. You would slam your favorite game cartridge into the system and turn it on. If the game didn’t immediately start all it took was a few breaths on the cartridge to remove the excess dust and start playing your game. I played many video games since then, but most consoles worked the same way. You put in the game and you are ready to play. That is not the case anymore. The first time I put a physical disc into a console and had to wait before I could play was Grand Theft Auto 5 on Xbox 360. It was a rare occasion, but one I accepted as a necessity as the game was huge compared to others of its time. Then the next generation of gaming consoles were released. The Xbox One and PS4 flooded the market and a new trend became the norm. People would buy digital versions of their games instead of purchasing a physical disc. Digital games were promoted with exclusive bonuses that weren’t available with the purchase of a physical copy of the same game. The digital version also usually allowed the players to download new releases before they came out so the game would be ready to play upon the release date. Gamers who bought physical copies would have to download huge updates before they were able to play new releases, which discourage hardcore fans from getting a physical copy. Because of this and other factors, physical game discs have drastically diminished from players’ shelves.

Why does it matter?

When you buy a digital version of a game, it stays connected to your account. If you want to play your new PS4 game at your friend’s house, you now have to sign into your account on their system. Before you could just take the game disc with you. Now imagine you wish to sell your game. If your game is tied to your account, then you have to sell access to your entire account to sell a used digital game. If you had a physical copy, you could easily sell the disc itself. The decrease in ownership of physical games has killed the revenue made from selling used video games. Video game companies like GameStop now have to find other ways of making profit. This explains why GameStop has recently tried to branch out into other markets including selling cell phones and magazine subscriptions. It also means that physical game discs are rising in value. You can now easily sell most games online for around $10, which is way more than GameStop and other similar companies would be willing to pay. The developers are happy though because they are selling more new games. Developers don’t make any revenue from the sale of used games.
In short, digital games have nearly killed physical video game sales. This is a problem that many people don’t care to fix though. It could be easily reversed by making games playable the instant they are put in the console, but the fact is that developers would rather sell digital versions of their game rather than physical copies. Change will only happen if there is money to be made.