N4G Discussion - Physical Games: Are They on Their Last Legs?

The movement from physically to digitally sourced games has been a topic since the PS3 and 360 era of consoles. Broadband truly became mainstream in the largest video game markets and access to fast downloads was seen as normal. Over the last two generations, we've moved from multiple aisles dedicated to gaming to single aisles comprised half of hardware and half of what few games are available in most major store chains. It's been a slow and steady creep towards what many have said was the inevitable.

With the Switch 2 putting codes in physical copies instead of actual game files, we're, once again, inching closer and closer to a potential future of digital-only games.

Not to say that, for many gamers, physical hasn't been a concern at all. Steam is fully digital, most games sold on consoles are digital, and mobile, the strongest gaming market still, is entirely digital. However, the demand for physical games is still desired. Not just of importance to those who prefer physical games, but also quite important to gamers in certain countries that don't have access to high-speed internet and tend to be a generation behind the rest of the world. Regardless of those demands or needs, the industry seems to find that the best thing to do is to continue to focus on the capabilities of the large markets that have embraced digital distribution over physical.

What are your thoughts on the continuation of this change in the industry? Are you happy with digital games? Do you feel that those without high-speed internet deserve consideration or that the larger and more profitable markets of the industry should decide what is best?

[Levii_92]

I would say gaming industry and gaming as a whole is on it’s last legs. Awful and pathetic times. At least good games still come out.

[darthv72]

Im in my early 50's... and all i can say is it was a hell of a ride. I liked the collecting aspect when i was younger. now, i dont really collect the games as much as i do the hardware (systems/controllers) because i know that those are something tangible... you can hold those and they are complete. the current trend of physical game releases, not so much. Ever since the trend of putting the bare minimum on the card/disc, it made buying them at retail less desirable. Even more so when you look at collector editions that come with fancy steel cases but no actual media in them.

I enjoyed my time with physical media, and made quite the pretty penny when i sold off all my 5th gen and older stuff. I like the 6th gen and up still. Even then I find myself even using those physical media less and less thanks to modern modding techniques and ODE's. For me, at my age, i know my kids have no attachment to the same things i did, and life is too short to worry about if (insert release here) comes complete on card/disc. i much rather just buy digitally what i want, and rent the rest through sub services.

While others clamor for the physicality, I'm just happy to play the games with no commitments. It's my time, my $$, my choice.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

That's fine and this is why we need options to have physical digital and subscription equally play out. We cannot have one overtake the other because the physical aspect, closed space os, and controllers is what makes a console. Even kids deserved to see what we see, even in my 50s I want to collect physical because that's something I prefer and even if the direction is all digital then I'll stick with pc but generally the industry is in a place and a crash will happen but back to topic we need options to have get games in all deliveries method because each has an appeal and value.

[Levii_92]

I wasn’t even talking about digital vs physical, that’s the least of our problems. I should give my take on it i guess.. physical isn’t going nowhere people and i’m fully in the camp of physical media.

[anast]

The industry is going strong. It's the direction that you have a problem with.

[jznrpg]

No

[xHeavYx]

It's a hard reality to accept for some people, but I believe they are, just like music CDs, almost nobody is buying those now (unless they are part of a special edition). Sad as it is, there is no way to stop the decline in physical game sales (especially since the console makers are making it harder to buy physical).

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Nintendo switch users were 70% physical mate but it's the companies that are forcing this

[UltimateOwnage]

The resurgence of vinyl begs to differ.

[xHeavYx]

The resurgence of Vinyl? Seriously? Check some numbers and you'll see the extreme drop in vinyl sales.

[RaidenBlack]

Unrelated
But since this is Chris's post,
Chris, can a CR be raised to increase the 100 char limit for submission titles?

[darthv72]

It is funny when they are such sticklers for the actual title and yet can also fudge the title themselves in order to post. The gears one from xbox has a longer title than what is allowed...
https://news.xbox.com/en-us...

[Christopher]

It has been brought up to the team.

[RaidenBlack]

cheers

[Terry_B]

If thats true, try to find modern pc games in physical form :-)

[DivineHand125]

It seems like the console hardware makers are trying their best to push us into a digital only future.

I do not think it is on it's last legs as yet since there is a demand for physical games but time will tell.

[Killer2020UK]

Absolutely, it benefits the seller and not the buyer. Cheaper consoles (no disc drives) and a monopoly on the marketplace that sells games (PSN etc). It's all bad news for the consumer, why else would a digital game on PSN cost more than a physical item despite the latter costing more to produce and distribute. It's greed and once they've locked you into their marketplace, they've got you by the balls!

[kpgs]

I get digital games 90% of the time now.
I play on PS5, so anytime I pick up a game, my bro can play at the same time.
It sucks not being able to physically own it, but frankly, there's way too many games that I play that having less games that take up physical space is a win for me.
The only time I condition that entices me to get physical are Collector's Editions, and those don't even come with physical games anymore.
I'm not too hurt not having physical games anymore, because at the rate that we're consuming games, it's a good thing.
I've got a digital library of 1000+ PS games, I'd hate to have 1000 discs lying around. I don't think EBGames even has that many games in their store. lol

And I don't ever hear PC gamers complain that they've gone all digital since Steam came out. When was the last time anyone has bought a physical PC game? Mine were the WoW expansions, and not even the recent ones.

I do wish they change how digital licensing work though, as I'd like to own said digital games.
But, it's not like that'll change any time soon.

[CRASHBASHUK]

you are right about pc gamers you dont see pc blu-ray games

[Killer2020UK]

Steam is so much more competitively priced than PSN for example. That's why PC players are happy to adopt digital, you have various marketplaces you can buy from and the competition keeps prices reasonable. On consoles, the manufacturer has a monopoly on the marketplace.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Pc I think it's the deal and fact you can pirate but digital games are more expensive than physical counterparts and with pc you can pirate, emulate anything but consoles don't have that option thats why ppl like me are advocating for physical media to be alongside everything else

[IanTH]

I feel like people are missing some important context for PC. PC discs were not a 1-to-1 with console physical for a long time.

PC *used* to be simply if you owned the discs, you could install and that was that. But because the discs were never necessary as a license check for systems like consoles, you could make backups/give to a friend/etc your physical copy. So with no way to control that, the physical discs ended up having the files *alongside* a game key in the box. And they key was necessary to activate your copy through many different launchers, DRM systems, and other annoying and proprietary systems that were often a hassle.

I still remember having to contact customer service for certain titles if you reinstalled more than a couple of times because the key hit max activations - even on the same pc - and customer service would have to do a reset for you. It was really annoying.

So Steam coming along to take the headache out of multiple launchers and variable DRM activation methods was an improvement. PC physical media became nothing more than a way to install the files, but not a form of actual ownership since it relied on DRM servers anyway.

I imagine if that's how console physical ownership had worked, discs would have been dead before the 360/PS3 era ended. Thankfully it isn't how it went. I collect a ton of physical console media, as well as play on PC. But the day consoles go digital only, is the day I give up consoles. For me, that's their primary benefit.

And with no physical ownership, on top of nearly all console exclusives coming to PC at some point, I think platform holders will have shot themselves in the foot. At that point, consoles would just be closed off PCs with nothing to differentiate themselves feature-wise. And while they certainly won't lose most of their playerbase, I think they'll find they lose more than they expect to people slowly migrating to PC.

[DivineHand125]

There are pros and cons for everything. You provided 2 good reasons to go all digital in your comment.

The ability to gameshare with your bother without the need for you both to buy individual copies of the same game and the space it takes up.

The problem with digital games arise when games get delisted or when the digital counterpart cost more than the physical.

[CRASHBASHUK]

with games getting large are we going to see 200GB disc on the next PlayStation/xbox etc? or will we switch back to cards as they can hold more data and can be around 500MB-1GBPS transfer rate if none of them happen most likely be digital future
as for me i went part digital with PlayStation 3 and full digital with PlayStation 4/5 + Nintendo 3ds/switch
having pre-load and playing most at midnight i do like a lot on both PlayStation and Nintendo its also good to have a watch list to see when they go on digital sale
also disc and digital games are now the same size in GB's on most disc/card

[XiNatsuDragnel]

There's a tb disc being developed too so it's companies laziness and not to willing to make physical discs because they don't have control and they want the control.

[darthv72]

I think i read somewhere that the limit is not on the capacity, but on the physical nature of the spinning platter. It can only go so fast before it runs the risk of breaking. something about harmonics and frequency of the rotation.

Its also why the media is no longer actually read from on a regular basis, and instead only used as a means to install to other storage mediums.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@darth
Understandable I think companies can and do have the resources to overcome these things but profits and control prevents it

[staticall]

Personally, i sure hope physical games are here to stay. Proper physical games, not just some key or empty case with download code BS.

I have around 250 PS3 and PS4 games on discs and i can still play them to this day. But i can't play any digital games i bought on PSN due to sanctions and my country being blocked from the network. That was a wakeup call for me. Digital means you can't resell, you don't own anything, your account can be banned or blocked and all of your digital games are just vanished, publishers can pull the games out of the stores or push update that will make the game worse or break it completely, so you'll have to move on (like what's «Stop killing games» is fighting against right now). You have no say in the matter. This feels awful. People like to pretend that it'll never happen, but it does happen.

But probably the worst thing is regional blocking. Content just disappears or not available on my local digital shop. I can't buy some japanese games for some weird reason, but i can easily import the game disc and it will work on my console. So why can't they sell it to me digitally? Licensing and copyright comes to mind, but i dunno.

To me, physical (with the game on disc and no funny business) is THE best option. The games will stay the way they were released, no closure of the console store will block be from playing the game.

On the topic, i think that Nintendo is trying to make physical games on Switch 2 to be seen as an inferior option, because they'll save more money if you'll buy it digitally. I consider that an awful move and i do wish that it will be a complete failure.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

This abstract needs to happen

[dveio]

Looking at what console manufacturers are actively trying to do/are already doing:

• exclusive digital stores (no competition)
• digital games tied to one (!) account
• no re-selling/lending of digital games
• intransparent pricing policies
• restrictive refund policies

= pimping up revenue, because everyone MUST get their own copy.

That's what's called creating a blowout at some point in time.

So, yes:

Console industry definitely wants to get rid of physical copies. Purely driven by reason for profits.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Yep thats why we need to purchase physical games and gaming industry needs a crash then ppl can tells these companies we still want physical too.

[prankster101]

Can I ask... Has N4G gone down in recent months / years? It's not as busy as it used to be...

[IanTH]

I think it is a mix of things. I wouldn't be surprised if the traffic isn't down much, but engagement is. I think part of that is due to the age of users who would come to a site like this rather than use social media skews older. And I think those people just slowly tend to have less time to dedicate to gaming, or will keep up with news but won't bother engaging.

There's also just so much more engagement-bait garbage that comes up in the form of articles. I used to comment on this site heavily. And I just got tired with how toxic and negative things became. It went from a few unhinged people in the comment sections, where you could otherwise have decent discussion - even around "political" topics - to a yelling match. So much hate. And it went from console war hate - shrug-off worthy junk - to hating on people and their ideals. Nuance, debate, and a general baseline empathy for the people behind the usernames seemed to all die out in a disturbingly short amount of time.

It's generally just more hassle than it is worth trying to comment. And sadly, I'd say that is more true universally than it ever was. If you look at a lot of websites now - gaming and otherwise - many have opted to remove comment sections altogether. Moderating for spam and toxicity just aren't worth it for a lot of sites. It's rather sad.

[PapaBop]

Probably but it'll be a dark day when gaming shifts to full digital. I buy about 95% of my games digitally but save so much money when I buy physical stuff for PS5. One of the often overlooked benefits of physical media, you're not held hostage by often far more expensive (in the UK at least) digital storefronts. Why pay £65-£70 for a newly released game when you can buy the physical release for £50-£55? The savings are far greater for older games too, Armored Core 6 for example is still £60 on PS Store, it's £20 on Amazon.

[andy85]

Plus the resale factor. Games are costing me £5-10 overall instead of the £60-70 I'd be paying digitally

[darthv72]

If you eventually resell them... why not just rent them in the first place? you get your play through out of it, and it only costs a fraction of the price.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@darth
Some ppl like physical copies or just reselling themselves

[darthv72]

^^but if you like physical copies, chances are you aren't really looking to sell.

[andy85]

Only one rental site that I know of in the UK. Aren't guaranteed to get new games right away, not on release date and you can't have a new game until they've received theirs back so there's a lot of waiting. My way I have a new game ready to go literally when I finish one.

[neutralgamer1992]

Gaming today is a far cry from what it was 20 or even just 10 years ago. The days of browsing aisles at GameStop or Walmart to pick up a new release for your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 feel like ancient history. We’re in a new era now—one that prioritizes digital licenses over physical ownership, and profits over player satisfaction.

Just take a walk through any major retailer today. At Walmart, the PS5 section may still be stocked, but most of the Xbox Series X games are on clearance, some selling for as low as $10. Best Buy has reduced its physical gaming footprint to a fraction of what it once was. Industry analysts predict that within a few years, physical games will make up only about 10–15% of the market. The shift to digital isn’t about convenience anymore—it’s about control.

Game publishers and console makers are pushing this transition aggressively. Why? Because when you buy a physical game, you own it. You can sell it, trade it, or lend it. But when you buy a digital game, you're really just purchasing a license. That license can be revoked, changed, or made obsolete. It’s the perfect setup for maximizing recurring revenue, limiting consumer rights, and cutting out retailers.

Gaming has become too big to fail—and in the process, it became too big to care.

The numbers speak volumes. The video game industry is now bigger than the movie and music industries combined. It’s second only to adult entertainment globally. And with that size came Wall Street. Hedge funds and institutional investors aren’t interested in legacy, creativity, or community—they care about quarterly earnings and stock performance. That means pushing $80 digital titles, $90 physical editions, and probably a $100 standard edition for something like GTA VI. The $70 price tag is no longer the ceiling—it’s the new floor.

Just look at the rising costs across the board: Xbox has increased the price of its hardware, software, and accessories. Nintendo is doing the same. The PS5 Pro, released on November 7, 2024, is priced at $699.99 and does not include a disc drive or vertical stand, which are sold separately for $79.99 and $29.99, respectively . They're not even pretending anymore.

It’s also important to remember: many of the people who once ran these companies—actual gamers, passionate developers—have left. BioWare’s founders, for example, walked away after EA took over. What was once a passion-driven medium has been hijacked by revenue goals and monetization models.

And yet—gamers keep buying.

The irony is painful. Gamers criticize microtransactions, day-one DLC, and always-online DRM—but then we line up outside GameStop to preorder the latest console or collector’s edition. The Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t even out yet, and it’s already selling out in preorders. We complain, but we also comply. We are, frankly, complicit.

This is why the industry has shifted toward predatory monetization: microtransactions, loot boxes, season passes, battle passes, ultimate editions—it’s all designed to extract more money after the sale. Titles like FIFA, Madden, NBA 2K, WWE 2K, and even MLB The Show are now less about gameplay and more about gambling mechanics and digital storefronts. You don’t play the game—you pay to play.

That’s why there’s been a massive resurgence of retro gaming. People are going back to GameCube, PS2, or emulators—not just for nostalgia, but because those games were fun, complete, and free of microtransaction traps. You paid once and you owned it.

Until something drastic happens—some kind of market crash or consumer revolt—the trend will continue. The only way to change things is for gamers to stop supporting this model. But as long as we keep buying, nothing will stop them from charging more and giving us less

[darthv72]

...this is why I support the rental model of sub services. No having to deal with decisions of do i buy this one or that one when I can play both for one low monthly rate. I get out of it the fun that is intended, and it only cost a fraction of the price.

Having the game to hold in my hand or display on a shelf serves no purpose for me anymore. It took me a few years to realize that the key takeaway in this hobby is having fun playing them, not how you measure up to the other dicks in the room.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

But companies don't really like that either I think full on crash I'd necessary to get old fashioned console traditions back.

[neutralgamer1992]

Man I don't know why even though I am signed up for GP ultimate I just can't play games if I don't own it. I feel rushed I hate it I was never able to play rental games

[SimpleSlave]

They are. One more Generation and that's it. Regardless, having nazi garbage in our game space is far worst.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Yikes it'll be a sad day that's why I will buy physical as long as possible

[Rebel_Scum]

Been digital for years and never turning back. Having too many physical items is like dead weight at my age. Im almost at the point where I’ll just rake the manuals out, and the sleeves of the packaging and dump the excess plastic.

Chucking out my old gaming mags was quite liberating lol.

[darthv72]

there is this sense of weight being lifted when you part out of stuff you find you no longer have a need for.

[Rebel_Scum]

Absolutely

[gold_drake]

i think the industry is doing their best to make them go away.

gaming in general has become more of a luxury than anything else too.

[goken]

While I don’t buy physical due to me being cheap and the lack of options where i am. But I believe physicals will stay, because there is a demand for it, and that’s money on the table

[Ethereal]

I've been collecting for nearly 20 years. Stuff I care about, stuff I want to play. I'm from the age when a boxed product was something exciting, part of the fun. I continue to collect and have transitioned to an advocate for physical due to preservation. I get that all games can't be on disc, but those that can, should. Gaming is an art and should be treated as such. I'll hold on as long as I can with physical game collecting with hopes I'll be able to enjoy these titles many years down the road.

[S2Killinit]

I really hope not

[BlaqMagiq1]

Clearly it's not, but digital fanboys will try to fool you into thinking otherwise.

[anast]

A lot of companies are trying to kill physical media. They like the rental scheme that Steam has got going on.

[Terry_B]

Since around 5 years already. Just a matter of time until only a few indie publishers sell some physical collector editions

[MetroidFREAK21]

Seems like it. However, I will continue to buy my games physically on PS5 and PROPER game releases on Switch 2. Since I won't be getting the PS6 or next Xbox... I've decided to make Switch 2 my final game system

[Killer2020UK]

Reasons I prefer physical:

1. They're often cheaper than digital (despite costing more to produce and distribute)
2. You can sell them when you're done and recoup some of the costs.
3. You have something tangible you own