The sale of physical video games is nearing its end. Sony plans to stop manufacturing discs for PlayStation in 2028, and 80% of current sales are already digital. This is not surprising: Satoru Iwata, former president of Nintendo, predicted it in 2009, estimating a twenty-year timeframe. For the average user, this means that soon there will be no option to resell, lend, or buy second-hand games. The physical format is saying goodbye. 🎮
The technical transition towards all-digital 💿
The digital infrastructure advances relentlessly. Current consoles prioritize internal storage and downloads, reducing the need for optical drives. Sony has already released a PlayStation 5 without a disc reader, and Microsoft is following a similar path. Disc production involves manufacturing costs, logistics, and store space that companies want to eliminate. Furthermore, patches and updates often make the physical disc a mere download starter. The market is moving towards a model where the game is a service, not an object.
Goodbye to lending games, hello to paying twice 😅
So get ready to explain to your nephew that you can no longer lend him that game you finished. Now he'll have to buy it from the digital store, at full price, because sales are a myth. And if your console breaks, forget about rescuing your collection from the shelf: everything is in the cloud, which is like saying in digital limbo. But hey, at least you'll save space for more anime figures.