Iâm just surprised that Playstation did it first. Supposedly their gamers care more about physical. Itâs Xbox thatâs supposed to be the one getting kicked off shelves because no one wants to make Xbox discs. Shrug. They way they write it off as a natural evolution of PS as if this isnât a massive change to how their consumers can even purchase and console the media they plan is crazy. Like this really isnât just another Tuesday. No matter how casual they pretend it is.
What a disc move. (couldnât resistâŚ)
The crazy thing is this would have been believable or more accepting if Xbox was the one to announce it. But PS doing this is rather earth shattering. Xbox already consumed their audience to go with digital, especially with EU and Japan. PS still has a lot of physical audience despite online increase year over year. Now they flat out tell you to get your mind in order to buy digital.
Whatâs worse is retailers are going to get hit bad as well. Sure, Nintendo is still around, but now we can expect next gen aisle to be gift cards. We also going to hear the likes of physical copy productions pretty soon. In short, this is practically a betrayal.
Also, PS3 and Vita Stores to close next year.
Actually surprised that Playstation is doing this before Xbox, or at least announcing it before Xbox. So now we have Nintendo up charging for physical and Sony announcing the end of production for physical. Yeah, thatâs curtains. Both companies are supposed to have a strong physical presence and more gamers interested in physical too.
Theyâre basically telling the consumer to suck it up and deal with it , while Xbox fans were trained along the way. In short, did it on short notice.
Yeah, Iâm as surprised as you are to see Sony move first to be honest. If they release a handheld PS6 it does make a bit of sense, although I can already hear the screams of those that are fully physical and how they most likely wonât be able to use their games on PS6.
Could be an opportunity for MS here to keep physical in limited capacity, although I donât think they will as it probably wonât attract that many people. They could do their own version of that Sony video of ââthis is how you share games on PS4ââ, would be glorious.
Already seeing some defenders talk about how great this is for gamers and the environment or that gamers canât be entitled or how itâs okay because PC does it too (nevermind that PC has multiple store fronts and games on PC are way cheaper so a used discs market matters less and thereâs less reliance on a single company to continue to support your purchased games).
With MS going full PC next gen and already supporting selling of keys on all stores (plus Play Anywhere), theyâre already a lot more open than both Sony and Nintendo. Theyâve also migrated their stuff over time and you can buy games from all gens of Xbox in the online store, which future proofs your purchases a lot more. MS did the ground work, so theyâre already prepared for the next phase.
Hereâs to hoping they just cross the finish line (Iâd be surpsied if they donât TBF). Helix, The PS6, and whatever Nintendoâs next console will be might be really different as they try to resolve these console market issues in different ways
Wow! It was inevitable but Iâm still surprised itâs being announced now and surprised that itâs PlayStation making this move first. I guess all the physical disc diehards will now be switching to Xbox in droves.
Makes perfect sense to me, donât get the outcry & never have
Also on PS3 and Vita, Iâm seeing this on Kotaku so please correct me, but are PS3 and Vota games still not backwards compatible at all on PS4/PS5? If so yikes with that store being shut down. At least Xbox still had some 360 backwards compatibility support to fall back on.
Theyâre not. Theyâre using cloud stream for some PS3 games.
Yup, although I could see them bringing back PS3 games digitally in the future. Are those PS3 cloud games still running on actual PS3 hardware like I think they used to?
Ugh so nothings improved since PS Now? Also a slap in the face to both shut down the stores, not have a native backwards compatibility option, AND say Playstation is going all digital in the future.
This really is one aera XBOX called right & was leading the way
Funny enough, they could reconsider it since PS fulfills physical need. It wonât be drove, but you can actually get new folks with the knowledge of digital being the only way, bonus discovering XPA. Happened with some didnât know backward compatibility existed after Showcase.
I was mostly joking, the big PS fans will yell and scream and then buy the product anyway, like always.
But, it has to be said that Xbox is a much more appealing digital ecosystem than PlayStation, with more freely available and often cheaper codes, gifting, Rewards points, Play Anywhere, etc. So if going all digital is the only choice anyway, people may give Xbox a more serious look.