Recently, an analyst from Circana – Mat Piscatella – spoke about the future of physical games. He put forward a theory suggesting that the PlayStation 6 will be the last generation of PS consoles that are based on physical media, and after that, it’ll be an all-digital landscape. He then theorised that Nintendo would go one generation further before coming all-digital. It’s not hard to predict that’ll be the case, as in the last few years, digital-based gaming has moved to take over the industry in an epic fashion.
It was highlighted recently through a report that as much as 90% of the industry is now focused on digital sales. That includes gaming subscription services, downloadable content, and full games, so the data might be skewed slightly, but it’s a solid representation of where things are headed.
No More PlayStation Discs
PlayStation started participating heavily in the digital charge with the launch of the PlayStation 4, implementing a next-generation network infrastructure to support game downloads and streaming. With PlayStation Now (rebranded later as PlayStation Plus), users could download games directly to their console via a subscription service. This concept has been expanded on in recent years, with services like Game Pass, Amazon Luna, Ubisoft Connect, and EA Play appearing on the market.
Elsewhere, an all-digital version of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S have shown the world that a disc drive isn’t needed to enjoy games. These smaller, more affordable variants of the current generation of consoles serve as solid replacements for the ‘archaic’ units that need a disc drive to play games.
In his estimations, Mat Piscatella claims that by the time the PlayStation 7 comes around, disc drives will be a thing of the past.
With predictions that the subscription market will be worth around $22 billion by 2027, it seems like we’re destined to hit that timeline. In the United Kingdom, the leading retailer of video games shut down sales of second-hand games and hardware, and even the boxed physical market is wavering. The UK is one of the leading adopters of digital software, and most other countries aren’t too far behind.
There are quite a few advantages to be found in digital media, but there are also a few concerns. It’s too easy for all digital games to disappear, and the prices for digital products often remain high, but they’re more eco-friendly, instantly accessible, and they won’t run out of stock.
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