In a leaked memo, provided to Wario64 on Twitter, by gaming retailer GameStop, the company is being told by Sony that they will no longer receive download codes for full digital games after April 1st.
Well I hope Sony adds some sort of gifting system in PSN.
I Mean I rarely would go out and buy a digital copy via retailer like bestbuy online, but when I did it made the convenience of gifting a friend easier instead of giving them two PSN codes ($50, $10, or $20 to cover tax)
Wait, you can't gift games on PSN? I haven't bought a game on PSN in almost a decade so I have no idea, but I would have thought they'd have added the feature by now.
Yeah it's really stupid. You can even view your friends' wishlists, but you can't buy the games in question for those friends. Like what the hell is the point of seeing other wishlists if you can't buy things off of them for the people involved?!
@sprinterboy I always buy AAA games as physical copies. Once the PS4 launched without any semblance of backwards compatibility, rendering my entire PSN digital library worthless, I completely lost confidence in Sony. Thus, I only buy big physical PS exclusives for PS4, and everything else I buy on PC.
Riz, PS4 was launched in late 2013, thats 6 1/2 years ago. That means you've stopped buying digital on PSN(ps3) 3 years before you even knew anything about the ps4 let alone its lack of BC... Its ok to admit you prefer physical, I do too, but the lack of BC on ps4 is irrelevant and contradictory to your OG comment.
@UltraNova "Exageration" is not synonymous with "contradictory." So I haven't bought anything digital for [almost seven years.] F*ck me, just get the point and stop being a weeb.
Why dont you try not exaggerating so that people get your point straight away and avoid getting your blood pressure through the roof when people call you out on it?
Isn't psn gift cards more than enough anyways?? I don't understand the problem here? I've always bought psn gift cards for my nephews as their gifts so they can purchase whatever they want in the psn store.... So I'm not sure why people are even crying about this??
yes.....and it is the norm. I don't know of anyone who has ever bought a specific digital game from GameStop to gift to someone else. People are acting like this is common and now such a huge inconvenience. If there were demand for this.....Sony wouldn't be dropping it.
I think they mean Game codes, not psn cards. Also DLC will obviously still be given for preorders etc. So it's pretty clear what they mean and it makes sense as almost no one actually buys them. I remember only using it maybe once or twice back in ps3 days to buy Crash 1 and 2 as I didn't have $20 to buy a whole PSN Card in the high school days.
This only applies to download codes for games. you will still be able to top off your PS+ memberships, add money to your account, etc. via those cards.
As a gift for a friend yeah. Since psn doesn't have the feature. Some of us just have friends. Also some people don't trust sony with their personal info(like debit/credit card info after that whole hack thing years back) so they go to stores to purchase codes
After the big Sony hack a lot of people haven’t trusted PSN’s security with their credit card info, as can be seen with the Amazon Best sellers, where 4 of the top 10 best sellers are digital money cards for 2019
Why travel all the way to a store and not just buy physical?
@kribwalker
No one brings that shit up anymore, you act like Sony is the only company this has happened to when everyday a new company announces user data is stolen.
You can still buy PSN money codes which work the same way as games.
What about those who do go out and are shopping and look in let say game and think oh I'll get that digi code now rather than sort it later.
There is also the fact that stores do digi deals in store that are different to the console.
Also price can be different, since none of the console devs in there respective markets have learnt to change digital prices one bit that reflect with the times. The stores however will have different dates with different deals, its a case of keep checking.
I see it as a very strange move by Sony one which forces Sony users to only buy from the source at just one price, there price, that's just wrong..
One of your more ridiculous conclusions. You might want to look at number 6 and 7. Both Xbox gift cards. I guess no one trusts Microsoft's security either, huh? Hell, almost half of the top 50 are gift cards of some sort from MS, Sony, and Nintendo.
and they're still going to sell the psn gift cards... this only applies to game codes. all the fuss over them not selling download codes of a game in a physical store.
I don't physically go anywhere, I buy from cdkeys at a big discount then I input the code into the store 30seconds later after an email saving me quite a bit of money on psplus and games as Sony never discount a wallet top up.
yes I do I'm all digital this generation...sometimes I give it to friends during Xmas or Birthdays... some other times there are better deals on digital cards than in the PSN store. Also, I get reward points for every game I buy so yeah.
Yeah exactly maybe people complained about not getting value for money they brought the digital code for $50 but the game was available for $30 on a sale or something at the same time
I don’t know how to answer your question other that to say a digital game code is NOT a digital currency card that you mention. A digital game code is a digital game code
I’ve never even seen one apart from Minecraft PC. Literally news to me that this was a thing on console. Thought it was something serious for a second (psn cards). Jeebus fix the title.
Rumor: download codes for full digital game won't be provided at retailers after April 1st (Actually most retailers such as supermarkets have already just provided PSN credit card like Apple store cards or Google play cards)
Title from journalist: PlayStation Store code will no longer be provided
Is this just a US thing I live in Australia and I frequently buy PSN wallet top ups via eb games and JB since I get a discount there it looks like Waller top ups are safe for now but I've never seen a actual digital code being sold over the counter here at least not since the lost and the damned GTA IV DLC
This worried me a little. I usually buy PSN currency cards from Amazon and other retailers digitally and thought it would have been the end of it me as a customer because PSN does not take my card or paypal. If it will only be affecting full game downloads then it is not so bad though it does cause there to be less choices to choose from.
I've never seen them in the store. Never looked for them though. I assume this may not apply to digital game sales through their website, so may only apply to the cards which are game specific.
Dunno, just seems silly to use them if you can buy them direct, as they're usually not cheaper. It makes sense if one doesn't have a means to pay online, but there are other options to make it work for those people.
So the number of people it affects determines whether something is good or bad? That doesn't sound like a moral stance if you apply it to other scenarios.
Number of people determined if its worthwhile. I'd imagine publishers could still provide these things. All j can tell from this is that they won't be providing the physical cards, but I'd imagine you can still go in and buy the code digitally, since it'll likely still be made available for their online site, and the code just prints out on your receipt. I suppose it sucks if a person is buying it as a gift, as it won't have the nice packaging to give them, but the cost to produce all those cards wasn't worthwhile, then maybe they just determined it was worth cutting. If imagine if these were big sellers, they wouldn't stop making them
You do realize that this only applies to codes for specific games, right? You can still buy gift cards for PSN. They are probably doing this because everyone already buys directly from PSN and this is not worth the expense. Hell, I had no idea I could buy a specific game digitally from a retail store? Not sure why would I want to.
right, sometimes relatives ask for particular games that are only available digitally, its nice to give them specifically what they want, rather than a gift card that they could buy anything then need parent to verify the purchase. I'm not saying this is a massive deal-breaker or anything, just that having one less option is not a good thing.
@gamer7804 Well then buy them a PSN Value card, they can still buy the game digitally, its probably better because they will have a choice of games and as you pointed out above, choice is great.
Seems like it only applies to the cards themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if they can still buy the digital code, and it just prints out on the receipt. I see no reason Sony would pull the digital codes, as it doesn't cost them anything, and if gamestop sells enough of them to have them so prominent on their website, it means Sony wouldn't pull the option...at least if one thinks about it logically.
All that changes is that they won't have the nice printed cardboard for the store
What? Why would you just not buy them a physical copy of the game as your going out to the shop anyway? It would probably be cheaper. Plus this only applies to game PSN cards, you can still send them a value PSN or PS+ card if for some reason buying them the physical copy is to much like hard work.
Mountain and molehill come to mind......i'm waiting for the journalist to complain that PSN cards are not cross platform...jees.....
Oh and the number of people it effects does matter, once something starts costing more to produce than you actually make selling it that becomes the scale tipper. So in reality, if more people bought them then they would still sell them but of course as usual most people who moan about it have probably never bought one, welcome to the modern age.
The games were always far more expensive this way. As the title would update with the current store price. So if a game was on sale on the PSN it would still remain full price through the gift cards.
The stores can sell the cards for whatever price they want. They are required to pay the key provider the asking price, regardless of if it's more or less than the cost they charge the consumer.
The retailer doesn't pay the asking cost until they activate the key, but it costs money to print the cards being talked about here. I'd imagine the vast majority of these cards never get activated, as they'll send many cards out to a single retailer. Just think of the gift cards section at various retailers. Hundreds of cards for things that may not even be in the area. Most of then dont sell. But it doesn't cost the retailer anything but a bit of floor space to make a bit of money off them
So, Sony decides to be the first to alienate retailers in this digital age. Heck I thought MS would be first. MS should thank Sony for becoming the ultimate bad guy for starting this path. Now MS won't be the first if they try this. I don't think MS will because this is a anti-retailer posture Sony has chosen. The last company who alienated retailers paid a dearly and costly price. Just ask Sega what it feels like to have most retailers against you.
How many times this gen alone has ms been labeled "the ultimate bad guy"
This is so funny. Yall xbox dudes really should be comedians.
Besides... if you have the $$ why not just purchase the game? Lol.orr i dunno give them cash... or hmm idk a gamestop, best buy, walmart, amazon... gift card.
Yall xbox dudes crying foul ball will literally cry about ANYTHING sony does while thinking .. ms do all the bad shit you want... we will still love you... lmao
Hey remember this conversation when you cry about choices and how Sony just limited your choices. How did Sony limit your choices? 1) Taking away a marketing area from retailers! (Retailers loving good marketing) What good is it to show just PSN cards for retailers? (Hey guys here's your PSN cards.) 2.) Limiting retailer choice sales. 3.) Using a anti-consumer tactic that places a wedge between Sony and the retailer. Did Sony do this intentional and why would they do this?
It's clear Sony still needs retailers to sell hardware. Well what if retailers refuse to sell that hardware? Amazon doesn't need Sony to survive but, Sony needs Amazon to survive Sony better remember that! Amazon has canceled the sell of Sony products in the past because of disagreements with Sony so, it isn't above Amazon to do it again. Sega got burned bad by retailers, upsetting them is never a good thing. This move screams Sony wants to cut out retail and have full control over any sales on their games by driving all sells through PSN. Don't ever complain about Microsoft ever again because they did this years ago with Windows and it didn't work out for MS too well Consumers such as yourself still to this day refuse to buy MS products because of it. The take way is this: don't complain later when Sony limits your choices and your PSN game store sales to only sales they want. Losing retail trust is never a good thing and who does Sony compete with if retailers are eliminated? #For The Players (Yea Right?!?)
Game cards that give retailers sale opportunities that now drive through PSN. This cuts out the retailers now that physical discs are disappearing! Why should retailers create store shelve space for products that don't help retail stores? Ten, fifty, hunderd dollar PSN cards help retailers how? How do those cards drive sales for a store retailer???? Why stock hardware when your profits are limited to protection plans (most won't buy) and limited accessories that are addons??? I don't resort to name calling it's too childish and I'm above all that.
Except those opportunities are still there. Means game stop and other retailers will just have to use their fancy printers to print out a sign, which informs the customer that they have the digital codes available. Hell, I go into gamestop, and I dont ever recall these cards for specific games anywhere, so I doubt the cards themselves are such a high priority.
They have these codes front and center on their website, without a physical card, and as far as I can tell, Sony isn't removing that option.
You're greatly inflating the issue here to be some sort of huge deal, when you haven't even proven retailers are upset about it. If there was actual meaningful opportunity yo make it worthwhile to make and distribute these cards, they wouldn't be removed. The fact there being removed probably means they aren't selling that well.
First off, you have no sales dater for these cards or how much they drive throughput in a store, which I imagine is pretty low. You are more likely to pick up a PSN card from one of these places whilst originally shopping for something else. Secondly, you have no information in regards to how much the retailers make from each sale of these cards (which I image will not be a lot). Third point, you also have no information on whether this removal is actually driven by the retailers themselves who may have been buying less and less stock as they were not selling, if their orders were declining then this could easily have led to Sony's decision. Everyone looks at things black and white with no evidence to back up assumptions.
So....ms should thank sony for being the ultimate bad guy because ms decided to alienate the retailers already, and are still pushing services which cut out the retailer, yet Sony in your mind is somehow first to alienate the retailer?
I'm having trouble following your logic.
And are retailers upset about this? Were only talking about some pieces of cardboard with a code on them. Are they not allowed to sell the codes themselves anymore....like they do online?
Well I hope Sony adds some sort of gifting system in PSN.
I Mean I rarely would go out and buy a digital copy via retailer like bestbuy online, but when I did it made the convenience of gifting a friend easier instead of giving them two PSN codes ($50, $10, or $20 to cover tax)
Da fuxk?
strange, why, and why now? the only reason i can fathom is that PSN Digital game codes don't sell at retail...
Not surprised Sony is acting so foolishly anymore.
You can still buy PSN cards just not digital game codes right? If so I don’t really see the big deal.