Physical Console Games are Quickly Becoming a Relatively Niche Market

Ars-exclusive analysis shows discs and cartridges becoming rarer and rarer.

[XbladeTeddy]

Less plastic in the world isn't a bad thing, I've not had a DVD drive in my PC for years. Physical is pushing more and more into collector category rather than necessity. I buy physical but more often it's digital.

[darthv72]

i have been a long time physical collector but lately i am feeling burned out on the 'collecting' side. Just recently I divested myself of my saturn / dreamcast / sega cd collections. I just wasnt playing them like i used to and also switched to using optical drive emulators instead of the real discs. I dont miss them, esp not after the huge chunk of change i got for them ($10k).

With so many ways to play the games of my youth, I dont worry so much about missing out on holding them in my hand or looking at them on a shelf. the other collections i may decide to part with include gamecube, xbox, ps1 and ps2. I will hold onto my 360 and ps3 and wii / wiiu collections for now. And of course xb1 / ps4.

[Urrakia34]

Not to judge but I don't understand why you would get rid of your older games collection which is more likely to include titles that will be lost in the digital era? For me, collecting is not about actively playing them constantly. It's more about preserving games I've beaten and enjoyed so that maybe one day I can share those experiences with younger generations who want to play games that are no longer easily accessible or flat-out unavailable digitally.

[darthv72]

^^nothing is truly lost. the physical medium is just a vessel to hold the data. The same data exists in digital form and if saved to various forms of flash drives or hard drives then it now has become physical again (just not the same context). Even if a digital store removes its content, somebody out there has already backed it up so preservation is an active process being performed by members of the community.

As for sharing those nostalgic experiences... I tried that myself with my kids. you'd be surprised at how the youth arent really interested in the games of our past. Nobody born in the last 10-20 years wants to play Atari like i did when it was new and fresh in 1977. while i experienced it first hand, most young today consider their first hand with something like the PS2 or PS3 and anything older just doesnt have the same appeal. I get that, its the same with old music and movies. If they didnt grow up with it, they dont have a connection to it.

now my reasoning to get rid of these was due to the market being ripe to sell. I did the same thing back a few years to all my cartridge collections (nes, genesis, snes, n64, tg16) and made quite a pretty penny then as well. Eventually the market will be so saturated with retro / vintage games and few with the disposable income to buy. you dont have to worry about that when you play the same games on real hardware using more modern methods. With a $50 gdemu clone and a couple of SD cards, i have my entire DC collection back (and then some).

[Hofstaderman]

No sane person is drinking this kool aid. Microsoft wishes everything will move digital. DRM, no swapping of games, no reselling of games and no guarantee games will be removed from a server in the future.

[Profchaos]

Yeah I can understand your point of view many kids just won't care about older games is like us playing our generations music to them and expecting them to like it.

[DOMination-]

Digital is the future whether you like it or not. Valve did it in 2004 and the PC market embraced and thrived off of it. For the hardcore collectors out there it sucks and I understand that but that is a really small percentage of gamers. For the rest of you, Sony is going to go there soon so you need to get used to it. It isn't that scary, I promise. Shop smartly like you would normally and there is just as many bargains to be had.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@DOM

I feel you want the corporates to own your games and physical media will persevere your games. Don't be a sheep be free.

[TheEroica]

Dude, I just threw out a hundred games. Entire Xbox and 360, ps3 libraries. It was time to part with them. I've kept my nes games but that's it.

[-Hermit-]

@XiNatsuDragnel

"Don't be a sheep be free"

What does this cringe even mean? Has it ever crossed your mind that people just prefer digital media? I do, I have been done with physical media for nearly a decade at this point and I haven't missed it one bit.

[jznrpg]

Let me know where your selling stuff I’ll take a look at it .

[TargusX]

Do you work for Nintendo?

[annoyedgamer]

The corporate PR machine disguises a ouch for digital as environment friendly. But it's just a ruse to lock people into a digital market.

[Notellin]

Do YoUr OwN ReSeArCh. EvErYtHiNg Is A ScAm.

[DigitallyAfflicted]

It just makes them more money. Imagine if dreamcast was digital-only, we wouldn't be able to buy and play most of Dreamcast games now. With physical copy we will enjoy retro gaming for generation to come!!!

[XbladeTeddy]

If digital is done correctly it works very well, just look at Steam it's a brilliant digital platform which consumers actually love. So much so that if a game isn't on Steam but on Epic's store as an exclusive or somewhere else people just boycott the game until it gets a Steam release.

Love or hate it, digital is the future.

[moriarty1889]

Exactly. There are many older games that are so cheap physically but the digital versions are much higher. Many of them still at full price like when they launched years ago. Ridiculous.

[Profchaos]

In the surface that's a good statement but I'm not sure the amount of energy consumed by the expanding digital distribution network actually offsets all the plastic from games and casing

[REDDURT]

Boy they have really drove a generation into not want to own anything.

[TheEroica]

Can't believe how many down votes such a sensible comment got.... I think physical media is entirely unnecessary as well. Just pollution. Send me your best down votes!

[DarXyde]

I much prefer physical and understand the need to reduce the use of plastics, but notice that companies have yet to explore (publicly, anyway) any means of securing digital ownership for consumers indefinitely. These companies could very easily get bigger digital support if they could ensure ownership the way physical games can.

Will they find a way? Probably. Will they let us know and implement that technology into their devices? Probably not. Going full digital is actually the consumer taking a loss: you don't get a discount, you don't own the game since you're only licensing it, and you can't let a friend borrow it.

[jznrpg]

This isn’t plastic that’s being thrown away 99% of the time . If you want to get rid of more plastic they need to stop selling water and soda in plastic bottles and items of that nature that is automatically thrown away .

[Dreadnort]

Couldn't agree more, I haven't had one for at least 12 years now. I do have a USB one, just in case, but the days of a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive as part of my PC build are long long gone.
I think Consoles fill that role of physical media quite well though. It's more of a necessity. PC 's have the advantage of being able to use multiple storage media, Consoles don't have the same kind of luxury in that regard. There is still something to be said though for purchasing physical media, ripping off the cellophane and dropping that disc into the drive. I think until Consoles can match PC's with the versatility AND multiple storage space options WITHOUT restrictions, physical media will remain a steadfast component for some time to come.

[Gheritt_White]

For as long as I can pick up a physical copy of a game far, far more cheaply than a digital copy - even a new, shrink-wrapped copy - then I will favor physical editions. You can also share and trade in pshyical games - I've yet to see any compelling solutions to this for digital games.

Plus, it doesn't help the PS5 SDD isn't even as big as the PS4 Pro's HDD, so less content can be installed at any one time.

[blackblades]

Ps5 sdd might not be large as ps4 hdd but is faster because its sdd and to sdd ps5 compression makes up for it to an extent

[one2thr]

I put a 2tb SSD in my PS5, and I still prefer to physically own certain titles.

[robtion]

Agree. I just picked up Horizon 2 physical for $79 in Australia(PS4 version and downloaded the free ps5 version). The digital edition is $110. Ridiculous! An all digital future will be pretty anti consumer I think.

[-Foxtrot]

I don’t mind if digital is a choice but an all digital future is not something I want to be part of.

The worst is having a couple of collectors editions now being digital only, it’s shitty, especially when they come with a steelbook.

[solideagle]

if they can give the functionality to buy/sell our digital games then there is no need for physical games I think

[-Foxtrot]

I don't think it's just about being able to sell them, for a lot of people we like physical discs to keep.

Digital stuff could be removed whenever, hell even something within the game could be cut/censored at anytime, look at the GTA Trilogy removing songs or the recent Martha is Dead having a scene censored, if that game was released as a physical product first time round then at least people would still have the original copy.

I just don't like the idea of companies having full control over something still despite me having bought it.

[staticall]

What happens with "your" games if you'll get banned at the service, which might happen for any reason, by the way, from fair (like using stolen cards) to idiotic (like "being toxic" or disrespecting someone else's pronounce)?
What happens if your internet stops working?
What if your government and/or service provider will block either related services (like auth or trading servers) or whole service? That slowly happens all over the world, by the way, if it didn't happen yet, that doesn't mean it will never happen.
What if a license for particular content expires and service/publisher (or both) can't sell or store some game? Like happened with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled and many other games.
What if a piece of content would be deemed "problematic" and publisher/service decide to not sell it anymore?
What if a service stop serving your country?
What if a service stops supporting your console?
What if a service is closed down completely?

There are a lot more of "What if's" with digital-only future. And even buy/sell of "used" copies or even renting will not help in any way, shape or form.
With a physical game, i can just put a disc in and the game works. There might be a problem with patches and/or DLC. But at least the game will be playable.

P. S.: You might argue, that it might never happen, but Nintendo is planning to close down WiiU and 3DS store, they already closed down Wii store. Sony is planning to disable PS3 store as far as i remember. The list goes on. There's a saying, «the morning sun never lasts a day». Every service will shut down sooner or later. But no one will take away your physical copy, unless you destroy it.

[dumahim]

Agreed. The other thing that annoys me is the publisher incentivizing people go digital as well. I mean, I can't fathom how stupid it is for HFW Regalla Edition to have a steelbook case, and no disc. Forza Horizon 5 only made the standard edition of the game physical. Deluxe and Premium digital only. GT7 is offering more credits to pre-orders depending on which version you buy. Etc...

[darthv72]

Horizon 5 really disappointed me. As a steelbook collector i think that was a huge missed opportunity. One of the rarest steelbooks i have is for Forza motorsport 6. It was only released to EB games in Australia, no other version in the world got a steelbook for FM6 but they did for FM7 and of course FM5... go figure.

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah that's one of them I was actually talking about

Like I just think at the end of the day I highly doubt those who are purely digital with their games are going to buy collectors editions, the whole point for most is they don't like clutter so why would they want to buy an edition of physical goods? Makes no sense to me, they have special digital editions of digital goods on the PSN store anyway so I just don't understand, why ruin it for the people who collect physical goods

I've had to buy the collectors edition, sell the code (at a small loss sadly) and buy a standard retail copy

I just can't keep doing this for future PS exclusive editions, it's ridiculous.

I'm really worried for God of War Ragnarök

[0hMyGandhi]

Agreed. It reminds me of a bunch of people I know who "cut the cable" and went to streaming with Netflix and HULU and got rid of their extensive dvd/blu-ray collections because of accessibility, not realizing that some of your favorite movies and shows are basically licensed out for a short time. I knew someone who got rid of their favorite Speilberg movies, not realizing that Amblin doesn't play well with streaming companies and movies like Jaws and Jurassic Park weren't available for the longest time.

Alan Wake and the GTA "definitive edition" are great examples of what happens when people consolidate their works. Alan Wake was taken off Steam due to a copyright dispute with it's music, same thing with GTA and the Tony Hawk games. There is absolutely zero guarantee that our favorite games/movies will be available for consumption at all times.

[Nyxus]

I don't mind if it's a niche market, as long as the option is there.

[Bigman4k]

I agree

[Fist4achin]

If physical media is so niche, then why's it so hard to find either of the new consoles disc versions? I still haven't made the next gen jump yet and will not until I find one.

[JEECE]

Well with PS5 it's harder to find a digital version of the console than the disc version. But also it's not like everyone who is primarily digital-focused refuses to buy consoles with a disc drive. For my part, I have PS5 Disc, but I buy all my games digitally, and have since the beginning of the PS4 gen (I do have Killzone:Shadow Fall on disc, because I wasn't confident in 2013 that the PSN wouldn't crash on launch day lol). Still, if I ever get the urge to buy a disc or even check out a 4k Blu Ray, I have the option.

With Xbox, the answer is a little more obvious: the digutal-only version of the console is less powerful, and people want the more powerful version, regardless of how they are going to buy games.

[dumahim]

To add to what JEECE said, backwards compatibility is probably a significant factor as well. Can't play your last-gen disc games on a system without the disc drive.

[Phoenix76]

I would still rather have physical over digital. Just look at what's happening over at Nintendo atm. They're shutting down the Wii U (I know it's not the most popular system) digital store now, which means physical is all you'll be able to use on that system.
Prices will quickly rise now for any disk based game, whilst being the only true way for "game preservation".

[JEECE]

So what you're saying is that if it wasn't for the digital storefronts, prices for physical games on those platforms would have shot up years earlier? By the way, one thing people seem to misunderstand is that you'll still be able to redownload purchased games after those stores shut down.

[Phoenix76]

No, what I'm saying is, the second hand market for these games (Wii U physical) will now shoot up in price. And don't believe for one minute that these digital stores will be allowing you to keep redownloading forever. Eventually they will close down for good (in 10 years perhaps) and your physical copies will be the only 'true' game preservation option available.

[JEECE]

Lol, if you are saying that the physical copies are going to shoot up in price now that the digital stores are closing, you are implicitly admitting that the digital storefronts were the only thing keeping physical prices down.

[pietro1212]

That’s not true. You’ll still have access to redownload your digital library- someone who mainly buys digital

[Ristul]

For now yes, but who knows for how long. Just imagine if Atari would have had only a digital storefront. Well, all those Atari games would be gone now. Thankfully we can still play those classics and the same could be said for a lot of systems of the past. Physical all the way for me.

[pietro1212]

That’s good for you. I prefer digital because I buy too many games and I don’t want the clutter

[pietro1212]

“ which means physical is all you'll be able to use on that system. ” that’s misinformation. You won’t be able to make digital purchases in the future. You’ll still have access to your digital library

[neutralgamer1992]

This has been said 10 years ago too end of the day the reality is both physical and digital gaming will coexist because there's demand for both. If digital is 60 to 65% do you really think the publishers want to risk giving up 30 to 35% of their revenue

The worst part about digital on consoles is usually you can find physically much cheaper than they are available on digital

[Workshyskiver]

Thats making the assumption that those who game physically will all refuse to continue gaming on a playstation/xbox if it goes all digital. Some will, not all and id imagine not even a majority with the rise of Gamepass and Sonys upcoming equivalent.

[darthv72]

to your last part, this is why I like gamepass so much. I use it to see if i even want to buy the physical version of a game (if available). It has helped me to add certain games and special editions of games I may have been on the fence about.

[Workshyskiver]

Its where the industry is going, generation by generation. Its clear from at least M$ strategy that they see an all digital future, and one that streaming will eventually end up us the main way the masses play. Its why I think they are aquisitioning so hard to ringfence the industry from newcomers like Google/apple when the day arrives that gaming is a service rather than hardware. We should all enjoy physical for however longer it lasts.

[x_xavier_x]

It's not just a Microsoft strategy. There is not a company in existence that prefers physical media over digital. If you think so, then you're just lying to yourself.

[Workshyskiver]

Not sure where I said that but ok bro. I just know M$ best due to prefering their consoles, thats all.

[x_xavier_x]

"Not sure where I said that but ok bro."

You specifically focused on Microsoft in your comment while ignoring similar business strategies adopted by their competitors. Your wording makes your comment a bit dubious and one-sided, particularly your use of the pejorative moniker "M$", which is a common slander favored by the ant-XBOX fanboy crowd. It's not a stretch to assume that you are blaming the transition from physical media to digital on Microsoft, based solely on your own language.

Perhaps you are just making a general observation on the industry. Honestly, it's difficult to discern. But I do have to ask, what part of my initial response was incorrect? I don't think anyone can argue that the gaming industry as a whole is not in favor of a completely digital environment and if a person thinks otherwise then they are being dishonest or willfully ignorant. Bro.

[IanTH]

It's very clear when looking towards the retro market & the insane cost inflation over the last couple of years.

It is why I've kept my "new" game purchases to a minimum, and started pivoting towards more retro purchases. Retro games will do nothing but get more expensive, and newer games - for a while - will slowly get cheaper. Given the recent retro inflation, I wouldn't be surprised to see prices potentially further double in the next two or three years.

I am really sad, though. I went to play my Game Gear yesterday and found the screen turn on, but it wouldn't read games. Then grabbed my Nomad, slapped the battery pack on it, and...wouldn't power up. Not even on AC. Both worked in the last year or two, but I guess the caps finally gave out. Really sucks. The older the games & hardware, the harder functional ownership gets.

[darthv72]

You can get those two fixed pretty easily. There is a market for reinvigorating old hardware with things like updated screens and even internalizing newer batteries. And with flash cartridges you can play the full library from just one cart. I dont have the GG anymore but i do still have my nomad and i use a mega everdrive x7.

The thing to be worried about regarding retro collecting is the ease of which reproductions are being made. Some are indistinguishable from the real thing. That's why i got out of it, sell while the market was high and even if it goes higher... nothing lasts forever.

I can still enjoy those same games but not break the bank to do so. If a person just wants to play, there are countless ways to do that. If a person wants to collect... there is only one way.

[Neonridr]

I'm always a fan of physical. I get the benefits to the environment with less waste. Just a personal preference though, I have nothing against digital games.

[adaminoregon]

People are foolish getting rid of physical media. You want to actually own something to be able to play when the internet or other servers are down? You want trade in value? You want some company to decide your game no longer exists? Physucal media hopefully never goes away fully. Its like cds. They are almost gone and tons of music will be lost and mp3s dont sound as good.

[RickRoland]

I’m starting to transition to the digital side. I’ve always loved physical game boxes and the option of another movie player….I haven’t used my series X or PS5 once for a Blu-ray movie, and I’ve bought recent titles digitally because there’s something incredibly convenient about just being able to swap between games without having to get up and pop in a disc with the speed of these SSD’s. Losing out on some trade-in money down the line for sure buttt does that outweigh 6 or so years of getting up, finding a game, ejecting a game, popping in a new game and putting the other game back in its box? Not so sure. Major quality of life improvement at the expense of nostalgia

[autobotdan]

Out the old and in with the new era

[PS-Gamer-1986]

This. New is always better. Just like full priced games built around micro transactions. A new thing i also really love! Now i want to be forced to buy games 3 years later at full price or having to wait for sales to get a tiny discount.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

You want corporates to own your games.

[BlaqMagiq1]

They love it when they give up ownership for all their possessions.

[franwex]

I preferred physical before, but since all games run out of the hdd (except Switch) physical is a bit less relevant. Specially with all the patches. Discs are now just a way to verify that you can play a game.

So I have been going more digital. Also I’ve been collecting for many decades now and I am running out of actual physical space in real life to store so many games!

[darthv72]

I had over 2k games and now I sold off around 300 so i made a small dent in my physical collection. My biggest space sucker is all the damn console and controller variants I have.

[Traecy]

Nope.

[SeTTriP]

I was one of those, ill never give up physical copies.

One generation later every game i have now is digital.its just more convenient and on demand.

[Kornholic]

Paying more for less is not convenient.

[DaniMacYo]

For those environmentalist enthusiasts out there. I didn’t realise people who spend good money on physical copies are tossing them away like everyday general garbage waste. LOL digital is very convenient but more expensive these days. I enjoy physical as well as digital. But nothing beats a good special edition or collectors edition of a physical copy especially when a steel book is involved.

You can’t wrap your hands around a digital version like a good old physical copy.
Much like books nothing beats holding it in your hands. I hope physical copies stay around for many, many more years.

[The7Reaper]

I'll never stop getting physical copies because I prefer to actually own my stuff.

[Profchaos]

I don't want an all Digital future but when a game releases In a broken state, requires online check in or activation or incomplete on the disc publishers have made that decision for us.

Unfortunately the accepted norm is day 1 patches meaning the act of collecting games on physical medium for a time where servers are offline renders collections pointless as you'll be playing the game in a broken state.

[Ristul]

To be fair, not all games are released in a proken state. Even most games with day one pathes are fully playable without downloading updates.

[Killer2020UK]

Releases do not equate to sales. Of course there are more digital releases than physical. It's far easier to release on digital and anyone who releases physically would also release digitally alongside.

Physical copies offer far greater value than digital. They are almost always cheaper than the PS or XBox stores. You also end up with an asset you can then resell once you complete/get bored of it.

[GamingSinceForever]

Physical discs are even more pointless with having
to install it onto the hard drive now.

[strayanalog]

Niche, please. I will continue to buy physical, because I hate everyone equally... and the smell of "new" is incredible.

[Binarycode]

I like physical media. Gives me choice if I want to sell or keep the game without asking for refunds. or if I'm finished with a game and can pass it on.

atm imo unless a game is old or in a sale. Games bought online are more expensive. Games bought online should be cheaper in the first place. Nothing physical. Just digital.

[Ninver]

The only way I'll go all digital is if I can sell my games some how for a decent price.

[AuraAbjure]

This is bad because people don't own anything. One's entire catalog can disappear literally in the blink of an eye and I am not embellishing one iota. There are laboratories in Mexico that can manufacture biodegradable plastic made out of cacti.

[z2g]

Its funny how I say these things and everyone disagrees with me. then eventually an article comes out in a reputable mag that says the same thing and ill still get disagrees. ppl care more about opinions and feelings over facts these days, and the reality is physical sales fall every year, studios like them less because they become an avoidable cost expenditure now that digital is so accessible and a lot of ppl including myself actually prefer the convenience of digital. Most day1 patches usually make the disc obsolete after the initial install anyway. *shrug* I'm just relaying the info that i read when its relevant.

[darthv72]

i know what you mean. Just look at the disagree ratio on my comments. I didn't hurt anyone directly with my decision to sell and the end result only benefits me. I put that $$ back into other parts of my collection so I really don't care what anyone else thinks. but they sure do... hence them disagreeing.

[Nacho_Z]

I've always been big on disc games and I fully intended to get the disc version of the PS5. However the more time passes the more I question that decision. I haven't changed the disc in my PS4 for so long that I've got no idea what's in there, everything I play is digital and has been for some time.

I think I'm ready to abandon physical games. I don't enjoy saying it but it's true.

[Mrxboxman]

Duh. Only people who collect things think having a physical disc is important or efficient. Or the people who think they "own" anything that can't be made obsolete via software push.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I'm sorry physical > Digital for life

[BlaqMagiq1]

I will never stop collecting physical games. I'll take real ownership over a digital license that lets you think you own a game.

Physical > Digital now and forever.

[Mrxboxman]

You own nothing but a plastic disc. Ownership in software is an obvious mirage

[BlaqMagiq1]

Wrong. Unlike digital, no company can come in and take my games away when I lose my account for any reason whatsoever.

[maskyy]

Haven't owned any physical discs besides locking my PS5 with games included in the box. Honestly, prefer digital and the future will just be digital. Physical will die out unless demanded.

[Miraak82]

I stopped buying physical when games weren't complete when I bought them , when I have to download patches that are bigger then the games themselves to either fix or complete them I was like what's the point . Most games after the ps3/360 era just lost most of there value especially if you bought something at release . Unless it's some complete/definitive type of physical copy which you can pop in and play then buying physical is would be justified but nowadays it's almost never the case . One of the only games the didn't have any patches last gen to my knowledge was FF7R but even then a year later dlc and next gen upgrades came about.

[Germaximus]

"You'll own nothing and you'll be happy."

[jjb1981]

It is amazing how the console market has hung in there this long. I remember buying discs for PC with a cd key to unlock the game. Now it's all digital and there is no reason for optical drives anymore. Personally, I love to have physical games for anything ps3 and before because so many new-gen games need day-one patches to eliminate game-breaking bugs. I only have about 15 physical PS4 games compared to my 140 PS3 discs.

[Knightofelemia]

I'll always go physical I like that sense of owner ship, I like collecting, the physical port can be cheaper, if a company loses the license I don't have to worry about the game being pulled once that license expires and I don't mind buying used games to up my collection count. If the game is a piece of shit I can sell it on Ebay or trade it in towards a new game. If games go strictly digital and streaming services honestly I would be done with gaming I would stick to older consoles and games.

[gammaray13]

i will never buy digital until they drop the price by 40%

[HeliosHex]

Jesus these companies and simping journalist must really think gamers are idiots. This is about revenue strictly business to have you relinquish yourself of the power and options you have of owning a tangible product. To take your money while offering you something that really isn't yours. Greed has no bounds.
Lock you into a subscription service to play older games will be the name of the game when they eventually close all eshop stores.
Screw that noise. Physicals will always reign Supreme. Digital is a convenience nothing more and worth less. Sick of these articles trying to brainwash the masses into thinking digital is so great and a preferred and widely accepted medium. I got news for you it's not. Only the devs and large companies are reaping all the benefits. Gamers in truth are getting screwed and many don't even see it that's the sad part.

[Viljong]

Physical is better and often cheaper option. Horizon forbidden west ps5 79e in psn store and 69e in physical copy. And physical you can trade or sell and get 50% money back return easily. But in reality its easier to buy digital and no worry about discs or getting it from store.

[Latex74]

Here in the uk digital is so over priced you can all ways find it cheeper on physical disc. So until this changes I'm all in for physical games . I will buy digital but not till thay brop in price drastically

[P_Bomb]

I still buy both but went more digital during the pandemic. The sales were on point as well.

[aaronaton]

Well Ive just managed to sell Demons Souls and Rift Apart for around £30 each.Try doing that with digital media.

[il-JumperMT]

my issue is that physical is like 15-20 euro cheaper for me!!

[stefd75]

Until they drop digital prices i will always buy physical and even then I like to own my games. I lost over £1k worth of music, books and films when my apple account got hacked and deleted years ago and apple were not able to bring it back since then I went back to physical.

[shadowT]

I still buy at my local game stores.

[TargusX]

Absolutely bs. This generation has been duped into a digital / free 2 play DRM fiasco where no one actually owns their games anymore. They'll feel the pain down in video gaming memory lane.