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[TehGoomba7s]

Disc Edition owner here, never put a disc in it since I bought it. Digital Edition is never in stock, not sure it's even being made any more.

 

[K' Dash]

People buy the disc edition and never use the disc drive.

 

[lh032]

Pointless data

What matters is the physical game sales split, many people have a disc drive they never use anyway.

PS5 with disc drive was much easier to find as well as it was the more expensive model

they may use it, for certain games, even for digital collectors. i believe they prefer additional option to play their games.

some of these owners may prefer to buy physical copies for certain games.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

What matters is the physical game sales split, many people have a disc drive they never use anyway.

Maybe optical drive owners buy used games? Hell, we have prominent users here who still rent discs. My friend from work gets all his games from the library!

 

[mdkirby]

Skewed. Digital edition was made in far more limited quantities, for quite a long time, and very limited at launch. I did not want a disc drive as I knew I’d never use it (and I haven’t), and it makes the ps5 look pregnant, but it was the only version available.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Console users like to trade in their games.

Damn straight. My current number of PS4/PS5 games on the shelf is around 20, while I have likely owned and played at least double that.

I’ll be trading in two games tomorrow to pay for Civilization 7.

 

[coffinbirth]

Lifetime and considering the digital edition was barely manufactured during the covid years.
But recently...:

40% of total PlayStation 5 hardware unit sales in September came from Digital PS5 consoles

...which have the ability to attach a disc drive to them now and curiously seem to be more abundant on store shelves than their slotted brethren.

Weird.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Physical is dying. I'm not sure why people seem to need to spin things to say it's not. It definitely is.

Sorry.

 

[Kupfer]

I just never had a hard decision when physical and digital were/are the same price. I feel like it makes more sense to own physical personally, as it feels like your money is going further. If digital WAS cheaper, and it should be IMO, it'd be a different story.

100%
You can easily invest thousands of dollars in a physical or digital library. while the digital library is worthless and only authorizes you to play the paid games for as long as the provider allows, a physical library is an investment.
In the vast majority of cases, it is not a good one, as its overall value does not reflect the value of what the individual games once cost, but if you are not collecting with the intention of making a profit, but are mainly interested in playing the games, you can accumulate a small fortune along the way.
If push came to shove, I could pay my rent for a few months with the sale of my collection.

Physical is dying. I'm not sure why people seem to need to spin things to say it's not. It definitely is.

Sorry.

It is, but that is no reason to accelerate the process. In the end, we decide with our money.
Physical vs. digital will be the deciding factor between the consoles for me in the next generation.
If Sony continues to push digital like this and 'force' it on people, I'll switch to the manufacturer that still offers normal physical games at no extra cost for additional hardware and doesn't have overly customer-hostile practices.

And when I buy a Nintendo console for the first time after the GBA, then that's just the way it is.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Physical is dying. I'm not sure why people seem to need to spin things to say it's not. It definitely is.

Sorry.

I think there will always be a decent percentage of gamers who want physical.

Console manufacturers and publishers would do well not to ignore them.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think there will always be a decent percentage of gamers who want physical.

Console manufacturers and publishers would do well not to ignore them.

Especially when you're dealing with the mainstream crowd on console. A lot of physical sales due to the benefits.

 

[Kupfer]

I'd really like to know whether subsequent physical releases have boosted the respective game, which was previously only available digitally, like AWII at the moment. It didn’t perform so well in terms of sales, but it could make up some ground with the current physical release.

 

[Life Diff]

Yet game sales show people are mostly buying digital. As someone said earlier in the thread, this is the "BUT what if" crowd. So even with the option of physical, users are still trending towards digital.

 

[FunkMiller]

Consumer choice is a powerful motivator in terms of what people buy. The choice of physical or digital is what's important here.

 

[MH3M3D]

Used mine for the first 6 months, then never bothered with buying discs since. There are enough sales if you wait a bit. Im too lazy to get up and change discs

 

[Kupfer]

Used mine for the first 6 months, then never bothered with buying discs since. There are enough sales if you wait a bit. Im too lazy to get up and change discs

Every time one of you writes this sentence, this is what I think of you:

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I think there will always be a decent percentage of gamers who want physical.

Console manufacturers and publishers would do well not to ignore them.

It is, but that is no reason to accelerate the process. In the end, we decide with our money.
Physical vs. digital will be the deciding factor between the consoles for me in the next generation.
If Sony continues to push digital like this and 'force' it on people, I'll switch to the manufacturer that still offers normal physical games at no extra cost for additional hardware and doesn't have overly customer-hostile practices.

And when I buy a Nintendo console for the first time after the GBA, then that's just the way it is.

I agree that some people will always want a physical copy, but as with other physical mediums that have fallen by the wayside, games will go the same way.

I disagree that Sony et al are forcing the issue however. There's no way that they'd risk sales by ending manufacture of physical games. They'll respond to customer demand and customers are increasingly choosing digital. I think the PS5 pro disc drive is a red herring to some degree, I suspect it's a way for Sony to grab a bit more money from their keenest customers and save a little on manufacturing at this point.

But, I also think that the model of an optional disc drive will be the one that Sony uses on the next generation - a separate disc drive if you want it, no hardware comes with it as standard. At some point they'll also say it's up to publishers if they want to release a physical version of a game or not. I would expect it to play out this way:

People buy a new console
Few people buy the disc drive
Publishers see low sales for the disc drive and initial physical releases.
An increasing number of games skip physical.
Eventually, few games aside from limited run and collectors editions at premium prices are released.

Game over.

If most people see the value in physical and keep buying games then physical will continue forever. But I don't see any way that happens.

 

[Kupfer]

I agree that some people will always want a physical copy, but as with other physical mediums that have fallen by the wayside, games will go the same way.

I disagree that Sony et al are forcing the issue however. There's no way that they'd risk sales by ending manufacture of physical games. They'll respond to customer demand and customers are increasingly choosing digital. I think the PS5 pro disc drive is a red herring to some degree, I suspect it's a way for Sony to grab a bit more money from their keenest customers and save a little on manufacturing at this point.

But, I also think that the model of an optional disc drive will be the one that Sony uses on the next generation - a separate disc drive if you want it, no hardware comes with it as standard. At some point they'll also say it's up to publishers if they want to release a physical version of a game or not. I would expect it to play out this way:

People buy a new console
Few people buy the disc drive
Publishers see low sales for the disc drive and initial physical releases.
An increasing number of games skip physical.
Eventually, few games aside from limited run and collectors editions at premium prices are released.

Game over.

You yourself write that the missing disc-drive is an indication that Sony wants to make more money. In your words it’s about production costs, but if there isn’t a more sustainable plan behind this, which you outline below in bullet points, I’ll eat my hat.
And if this isn’t a shift toward Sony’s digital orientation, then I don’t know what is.
At first glance, the goal may be short-term savings from omitting the disc-drive to reduce costs in the new console, but in the long term, this paves the way to further solidify digital in the minds of customers.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I agree that some people will always want a physical copy, but as with other physical mediums that have fallen by the wayside, games will go the same way.

I disagree that Sony et al are forcing the issue however. There's no way that they'd risk sales by ending manufacture of physical games. They'll respond to customer demand and customers are increasingly choosing digital. I think the PS5 pro disc drive is a red herring to some degree, I suspect it's a way for Sony to grab a bit more money from their keenest customers and save a little on manufacturing at this point.

But, I also think that the model of an optional disc drive will be the one that Sony uses on the next generation - a separate disc drive if you want it, no hardware comes with it as standard. At some point they'll also say it's up to publishers if they want to release a physical version of a game or not. I would expect it to play out this way:

People buy a new console
Few people buy the disc drive
Publishers see low sales for the disc drive and initial physical releases.
An increasing number of games skip physical.
Eventually, few games aside from limited run and collectors editions at premium prices are released.

Game over.

If most people see the value in physical and keep buying games then physical will continue forever. But I don't see any way that happens.

Odd, can still get most new albums on CD, deacdes after the format “died”

 

[SpokkX]

That sounds.. weird..?

This must be wrong? Surely digital must be higher?
I myself has not bought a physical disc since PS3/360 Gen - and neither has anyone I know.
I fact discs are kind of hard to find unless you really look where i live

Except for Switch where physical seems way more common

 

[Elios83]

...which have the ability to attach a disc drive to them now and curiously seem to be more abundant on store shelves than their slotted brethren.

Weird.

It's clear that Sony sees a future where the disc drive is at best an optional.
The Pro is basically a preview of what will happen with PS6.

It's also clear that the digital consoles are now being manufactured in considerable numbers and they're selling well even in countries that traditionally are more sided with physical media like Spain, Italy and others.

The weird thing is that Sony has a higher margin on consoles sold with a pre-installed disc so they might be giving up on that but this might be only an apparent thing if they have determined that customers wanting the disc are all 100% buying the add-on and that can cost even a bit higher that the official price difference between the two console models, so they might actually have increased their margin under this assumption.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

You yourself write that the missing disc-drive is an indication that Sony wants to make more money. In your words it’s about production costs, but if there isn’t a more sustainable plan behind this, which you outline below in bullet points, I’ll eat my hat.
And if this isn’t a shift toward Sony’s digital orientation, then I don’t know what is.
At first glance, the goal may be short-term savings from omitting the disc-drive to reduce costs in the new console, but in the long term, this paves the way to further solidify digital in the minds of customers.

I said the separate disc drive was a way for Sony to make more money and save money too.

But I think if most people were buying physical games they'd have included the drive in the PS5 pro and either eaten the cost or raised the price.

As I already said, Sony are following consumer demand, not dictating it, imo.

You can see the same thing with Nintendo, the most penny pinching of all the platforms. They would love to get everyone buying digitally exclusively but physical is all but guaranteed on the next console because physical is dominant on their platform.

 

[Sw0pDiller]

Funny how the "i need me disk drive" camp celebrates this news as a win while also many people in this thread mention they own a disk version but never even bought a disk based game. I feel that for PS5 to have a smooth conversions from the ps4, 4 years ago, the disk drive was crucial. Your ps5 plays ps4 disks after all. Now 4-5 years later we see that more than 80pct of games are being sold digital. Game stores seem to fall left and right because of the internets and digital stores as a mayor competition. How on earth does the disk "camp" see a future for this medium? when in fact they are just not enough to keep this media going.

 

[Kupfer]

I said the separate disc drive was a way for Sony to make more money and save money too.

But I think if most people were buying physical games they'd have included the drive in the PS5 pro and either eaten the cost or raised the price.

As I already said, Sony are following consumer demand, not dictating it, imo.

You can see the same thing with Nintendo, the most penny pinching of all the platforms. They would love to get everyone buying digitally exclusively but physical is all but guaranteed on the next console because physical is dominant on their platform.

I believe it’s the other way around and done deliberately; catering to the wishes of the customers is just a pretext to keep things as calm and orderly as possible, avoiding any risk of a backlash.
We’re talking about billions of dollars in revenue here, and there are people being very well-paid to manage exactly these kinds of decisions. I’d be very, very surprised if they were simply responding to customer demand in this case.

Funny how the "i need me disk drive" camp celebrates this news as a win while also many people in this thread mention they own a disk version but never even bought a disk based game. I feel that for PS5 to have a smooth conversions from the ps4, 4 years ago, the disk drive was crucial. Your ps5 plays ps4 disks after all. Now 4-5 years later we see that more than 80pct of games are being sold digital. Game stores seem to fall left and right because of the internets and digital stores as a mayor competition. How on earth does the disk "camp" see a future for this medium? when in fact they are just not enough to keep this media going.

Where does the "more than 80pct" come from?

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I believe it’s the other way around and done deliberately; catering to the wishes of the customers is just a pretext to keep things as calm and orderly as possible, avoiding any risk of a backlash.
We’re talking about billions of dollars in revenue here, and there are people being very well-paid to manage exactly these kinds of decisions. I’d be very, very surprised if they were simply responding to customer demand in this case.

Sony aren't stupid enough to alienate their customer base in this way, as you say it's billions of dollars at risk. If digital sales dropped off, physical would be back in full force. Microsoft would do the same too. Nobody would risk their market share over a delivery system.

 

[Bojanglez]

Skewed. Digital edition was made in far more limited quantities, for quite a long time, and very limited at launch. I did not want a disc drive as I knew I’d never use it (and I haven’t), and it makes the ps5 look pregnant, but it was the only version available.

I always (half jokingly) said during the PS4 days that I would have actually paid more for a slimmer digital only version. Luckily they made this the cheaper option with the PS5. I was lucky enough to be able to get a digital PS5 day one, but I expect a lot of people have bought a disc version just because it was the only option for them.

 

[Sw0pDiller]

Where does the "more than 80pct" come from?

 

[GoldenEye98]

The fact that ~80% of hardware sales are disc model but ~80% of actual game sales are digital just tells me most people are buying based on some type of anxiety...

 

[Brucey]

The fact that ~80% of hardware sales are disc model but ~80% of actual game sales are digital just tells me most people are buying based on some type of anxiety...

Or they have an existing physical library of PS4 games, blu ray and 4k discs etc....

I have a fatty with drive. A game I play regularly like GT7, I have digitally. A game like Astrobot, I bought on disc, because then I can easily share it with my friends who have ps5s. It's not an all or nothing situation (like with initial digital fatty without drive, or series s etc, where there is no disk drive option to add after initial purchase).

 

[Kupfer]

It is probably about 10% more to physical sales

The end of the year, which has not yet been reached, is likely more favorable for physical sales. It also depends on which titles are released throughout the year. According to gamesindustry, this year simply did not have the volume of AAA & AA single-player games that would sell well physically in 2023.

Nevertheless, it seems that physical games still make up about a third of the market, which, while far from being "dead," is nonetheless concerning if this trend continues.

IMO, digital buyers are ultimately making a mistake by exchanging that final piece of freedom in deciding where and under what conditions to buy a game for convenience. Competition is good and invigorates the market, even within the same system. If a provider holds a complete monopoly over their distributed media and consumers have no other option but to "purchase" them in the provider's own store, the provider can do whatever they want.

And Sony wants to get to this point

 

[GoldenEye98]

It is probably about 10% more to physical sales

The end of the year, which has not yet been reached, is likely more favorable for physical sales. It also depends on which titles are released throughout the year. According to gamesindustry, this year simply did not have the volume of AAA & AA single-player games that would sell well physically in 2023.

Nevertheless, it seems that physical games still make up about a third of the market, which, while far from being "dead," is nonetheless concerning if this trend continues.

IMO, digital buyers are ultimately making a mistake by exchanging that final piece of freedom in deciding where and under what conditions to buy a game for convenience. Competition is good and invigorates the market, even within the same system. If a provider holds a complete monopoly over their distributed media and consumers have no other option but to "purchase" them in the provider's own store, the provider can do whatever they want.

And Sony wants to get to this point

The problem is that physical games no longer actually guarantee offline playability or preservation anymore.

The full game install(or even any game install data whatsoever) may not even be on the disc. And this isn't even factoring in critical game updates post launch...

The main argument for physical media no longer applies.

 

[mdkirby]

I always (half jokingly) said during the PS4 days that I would have actually paid more for a slimmer digital only version. Luckily they made this the cheaper option with the PS5. I was lucky enough to be able to get a digital PS5 day one, but I expect a lot of people have bought a disc version just because it was the only option for them.

Yeah I was there with multiple browser open on pre order day, as was my wife, but as soon as I was through, the only one available was the disk edition. Thankfully the pro is digital only, which will be here soon

 

[Kupfer]

The problem is that physical games no longer actually guarantee offline playability or preservation anymore.

The full game install(or even any game install data whatsoever) may not even be on the disc. And this isn't even factoring in critical game updates post launch...

The main argument for physical media no longer applies.

That's partly true, but fortunately, the majority of games can still be fully installed and played offline. Unfortunately, negative examples and disasters like Cyberpunk tend to stick in memory more than the many games that actually work well. DoesItPlay provides a pretty useful overview of this.

 

[SweetTooth]

I wanted DE PS5, couldn't find one around launch so I opted for disc edition. I cannot be the only one in this situation.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

I'm one of the 18%

After buying like 2 games on discs on PS4 i just knew i wouldn't buy physical games again, so a bit cheaper console and imo more aesthetic was right for me, and so far no regrets.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

That’s because everyone thinks there gonna use it, but never do

I still haven’t put a disk in my PS5 and XSX, but I need that disc drive just in case.

 

[GoldenEye98]

That's partly true, but fortunately, the majority of games can still be fully installed and played offline. Unfortunately, negative examples and disasters like Cyberpunk tend to stick in memory more than the many games that actually work well. DoesItPlay provides a pretty useful overview of this.

But post game updates?..

 

[SkylineRKR]

I have DE, but I would've prefered a disc edition. Some deals on those games are pretty good. However, I like not having to change discs when I want to play something.

Choice is never bad. There is always this one game you might find for a few dimes on disc.

 

[Kupfer]

But post game updates?..

To be honest, I don’t quite understand the question or argument. As long as there's an internet connection, both digital and physical buyers receive the same updates at the same time. If, for some reason, the connection is lost, the physical buyer can still access their library of games that aren’t yet installed, while the digital buyer can only play the games already installed. I can't think of a scenario where a physical buyer wouldn’t receive post-game updates while a digital buyer would.

 

[kaizenkko]

I like to collect, so physical games are my way to go. But the real point is: is good for consumers to have options. I really don't understand how people can look at the idea of, for example, Sony itself selling all Playstation games digitally, and this being the only option. How can this be good for us?

 

[Larivel]

Funny how the "i need me disk drive" camp celebrates this news as a win while also many people in this thread mention they own a disk version but never even bought a disk based game. I feel that for PS5 to have a smooth conversions from the ps4, 4 years ago, the disk drive was crucial. Your ps5 plays ps4 disks after all. Now 4-5 years later we see that more than 80pct of games are being sold digital. Game stores seem to fall left and right because of the internets and digital stores as a mayor competition. How on earth does the disk "camp" see a future for this medium? when in fact they are just not enough to keep this media going.

Maybe because there is a lot of only digital games, physical games are limited in stock and used games don't count towards sales?

When you look at the split from Insomniac's leak, it's ~60% physical for 1st party titles. Yes, a lot of people still "I need me disk drive"

 

[GoldenEye98]

To be honest, I don’t quite understand the question or argument. As long as there's an internet connection, both digital and physical buyers receive the same updates at the same time. If, for some reason, the connection is lost, the physical buyer can still access their library of games that aren’t yet installed, while the digital buyer can only play the games already installed. I can't think of a scenario where a physical buyer wouldn’t receive post-game updates while a digital buyer would.

If you have to rely on downloads for updates it's just not as solid for offline play/game preservation.

I wouldn't be surprised if a large amount of people who play physical games still think it is running off the disc...in fact I have seen those comments. That hasn't been true since 360/PS3.

I can only imagine what it will be like on Switch 2 when it's running a PS4 file size and cartridges cost a fortune...you won't be getting that full game...

 

[ArtHands]

I like to collect, so physical games are my way to go. But the real point is: is good for consumers to have options. I really don't understand how people can look at the idea of, for example, Sony itself selling all Playstation games digitally, and this being the only option. How can this be good for us?

Too much options will confuse the consumers. So let Sony decides what’s best for you

 

[Kerotan]

Good. People want options and don’t want to be chained to digital licenses that can be revoked. This goes for both games and movies.

Yeah options are nice even though most games bought for the disc ps5 will be bought digital.

I'm unsure if I want to pay the extra 120 for a pro disc add on. I'm not sure if I'd make 120 worth of savings.

 

[Kupfer]

If you have to rely on downloads for updates it's just not as solid for offline play/game preservation.

I wouldn't be surprised if a large amount of people who play physical games still think it is running off the disc...in fact I have seen those comments. That hasn't been true since 360/PS3.

I can only imagine what it will be like on Switch 2 when it's running a PS4 file size and cartridges cost a fortune...you won't be getting that full game...

We're not talking about the perfect solution, we're discussing pros and cons from physical vs. digital, aren't we?

 

[kikonawa]

Where’s the source for 70% digital? must have missed that

Its probably with all the 3 ,5 € $ games and gamespass , psn sales combined

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

i want a disc, instruction booklet (for reading on the toilet), a poster, and a random ass coupon

 

[GoldenEye98]

We're not talking about the perfect solution, we're discussing pros and cons from physical vs. digital, aren't we?

And I'm saying the pro's are less than they were. Once games went from directly running off the physical media to requiring installations the advantage was never the same.

 

[Kupfer]

And I'm saying the pro's are less than they were. Once games went from directly running off the physical media to requiring installations the advantage was never the same.

I still don’t get your point.

How can we get the most out of games today, and what steps can we take to build a better future for our hobby?

What is the best and most sustainable way for players to pursue their gaming hobby today?

There's no use in mourning the past, and looking toward a digital future where one provider holds a monopoly with their own shop is something I strongly dislike.

 

[MikeM]

Yeah options are nice even though most games bought for the disc ps5 will be bought digital.

I'm unsure if I want to pay the extra 120 for a pro disc add on. I'm not sure if I'd make 120 worth of savings.

Sometimes you need to do something to send a message.

Buy it.