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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

UK supermarket chain Tesco will no-longer stock physical video games in its 2,800 stores, Gamesindustry.biz can reveal.

Once the current range of games have sold out, the firm will not be giving any more shelf space to games products. The one exception are digital points cards, which will remain available through its outlets.

The supermarket chain says it's due to the move from its customers "towards digital entertainment".

It follows the news that GameStop Ireland has closed all of its 35 stores. It operated eight stores in Dublin, six in Cork and three in Limerick.

The retailer told customers it was 'disappointed' to announce the closure, before revealing details of its closing down sale on Instagram in May.

The games market across the UK has rapidly accelerated towards digital. Across the four big games of June -- Diablo 4, Final Fantasy 16, Street Fighter 6 and F1 23 -- less than 18% of these games were sold via physical stores.

UK retail chain GAME discussed the decline of physical games in our interview last month, and detailed its push into toys and board games.

"You saw what happened with the pandemic, with digital racing ahead more than anything we had forecasted… Customers rushed to online, and although some came back, it's not been all," said GAME boss Nick Arran. "You can see from market data that online is 75% of the market. Before the pandemic, it was 45%."

Source:

UK supermarket Tesco to stop stocking physical games as GameStop leaves Ireland

The UK games market loses another retailer

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

What a big L for us customers who still prefer our games on physical media.

 

[AV]

Let's be honest, nobody except mums was buying physical games by walking to a Tesco.

 

[Z O N E]

What a big L for us customers who still prefer our games on physical media.

I mean you can still buy physical from ShopTo, GAME or Amazon.

But I get why retail stores are moving away from it especially if digital is at 75%. Makes no sense to have a spot in the store dedicated for physical if it won't return much profit.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I mean you can still buy physical from ShopTo, GAME or Amazon.

But I get why retail stores are moving away from it especially if digital is at 75%. Makes no sense to have a spot in the store dedicated for physical if it won't return much profit.

I agree, but having more available options gives us better deals on physical games since retailers have to compete.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

The (inevitable) move to all-digital gaming is going to be a huge L for video game consumers and publishers. Only the biggest and most popular companies will continue to see samey sales, like Rockstar etc. while everyone else will likely see relevant drops in overall ltd sales of their games.

This will lead to even less original games being made, and the industry will be forced to raise prices even higher to try to fill the void. Smells like total disaster to me.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Massive L for us. I got horizon for 15 quid from Tesco in November last year.

End of an era.

 

[SEGA_2012]

Terrible, TERRIBLE decision. Digital future is a mistake that i am going to fight against it with all my power.

 

[Disco Dave]

Shame. Tesco were usually around £5 cheaper than other stores. You could collect Tesco Clubcard points on purchases too.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Makes sense.

 

[V1LÆM]

My local Tesco supermarket has put their games at the end of the aisle where you buy printer paper which is in the quiet part of the store away at the back next to where the guy takes passport photos. It'll be tough work for them to clear out all 3 shelves! If a new big game is out then there is sometimes a little stand of games near the front entrance.

I remember in this very store that they had a full aisle of gaming stuff including consoles/accessories etc. It was actually a good place to go get a new game at release. I'd always go to Tesco first when a new game came out to see if I could get it there instead of having to travel away into the city centre. I remember buying GTA IV, GTA V, and Portal 2....and that is the problem. The last game I bought from Tesco, and last physical Playstation game, was GTA V which as we all know is a game from a decade ago.

Time has changed. Nobody is buying physical games anymore. Alright I know there are some people still clinging desperately onto the past but it's clear that most people don't buy physical anymore.

Look at GAME stores....used to be everywhere but now they are reduced to being put in the corner of a Sports Direct store

From this...

to being stuck in a corner behind cheap clothes and barbie toys

It's time to embrace the digital future. If you don't like it then suck it up or stop playing games. Huge W

Terrible, TERRIBLE decision. Digital future is a mistake that i am going to fight against it with all my power.

Good luck with that

 

[ArtHands]

 

[Aguero9320]

When I left the UK it was still all physical, and I used to love going to Sainsbury's at lunch time to look over the new releases. That said, I am delighted to hear than people are fully embracing digital now. Much better.

 

[Eotheod]

EB Games in Australia will never get rid of physical games, especially with the likes of JB Hi-fi, Harvey Norman and such also providing physical sales. Partly that's to do with how shit our broadband infrastructure is thanks to old farts thinking copper was "more than enough" for browsing your websites.

Any country that has bugger all infrastructure will stick to physical, it'd be a stupid loss and leaving money on the table. I mean, EB Games definitely has swung into the apparel and physical gaming items through Zing, but they still focus on discs because of higher profits.

 

[V1LÆM]

EB Games in Australia will never get rid of physical games, especially with the likes of JB Hi-fi, Harvey Norman and such also providing physical sales. Partly that's to do with how shit our broadband infrastructure is thanks to old farts thinking copper was "more than enough" for browsing your websites.

Any country that has bugger all infrastructure will stick to physical, it'd be a stupid loss and leaving money on the table. I mean, EB Games definitely has swung into the apparel and physical gaming items through Zing, but they still focus on discs because of higher profits.

Sony/Microsoft and other publishers aren't going to care how fast or slow your internet it is. If a game takes 12 hours to download then you'll just need to do it because physical games won't be an option. If Sony/Microsoft don't ditch physical next gen then it'll definitely be the last gen.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I tend not to buy physical much anymore. I bought FFXVI on disc just because I had some stuff to trade for it. Waste of plastic in my opinion and ultimately ends up in landfill.

 

[Bernoulli]

And here i am, never bought digital games because they don't feel real

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

It's time to embrace the digital future. If you don't like it then suck it up or stop playing games. Huge W

Careful what you wish for...

 

[crackajack]

The sales numbers are probably just not there anymore. Preorders happen on other online stores and its probably just dead shelf space for these shops.
MS is barely visible here, especially in smaller shops where it's only PS and Nintendo (and a little PC).
No idea why it took Sony so long to finally launch their direct here too, after they got their availability sorted out. Now I can order HW and could also order selected SW there. Which may be the only store all platforms will have going forward. Why share any profit with other chains, when they are not important anymore, and terrible at preventing scalping; platform holders can at least bind orders to existing loyal accounts. Physical is dying anyway but the last shops basically just generate some sells to moms and grannys for little Timmy, but overall gamers don't really need them.

 

[Valt7786]

Yeah ours stopped about a year or so ago, bit of a shame, was the only thing I spent my clubcard points on.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I buy like 90% physical. I was the only person who pre ordered FF XVI at GAME. smh.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

The ones actively cheering for less consumer choice will likely be the same people who make future threads crying about why people aren't buying their favorite games on day one. It'll read something like: "waaah! guys why aren't you supporting these games?!".

 

[Big Baller]

No more physical sale reports praise da lord.

 

[Mr Wonderstuff]

Not surprising but still a shame. I recall the halcyon days of my pilgrimages to Oxford Street to get the latest blockbuster title and sitting on the bus home flicking through the manual. Good times.

 

[Drew1440]

No real loss, they only ever stocked FIFA and GTA V

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Welp, I guess it's Tescover.

 

[YCoCg]

From this...

The sad thing is, big launch events like this were always done for GTA games, ...and what hasn't had an actual new game for 10 years, that's right, GTA.

 

[JimboJones]

They had a terrible selection for years.

 

[onnextflix5]

Miss the days of saving my money to buy a game from my local shop, inserting it on my console, playing it while sitting on the floor with my mum shouting at me in the background.

digital and subscription is the future, hope the cloud streaming shit never takes off, like who the fuck wants to play a video stream lol.

 

[rofif]

Terrible for customers.
No choice, no competing retailers.
This is a crazy industry. People are cheering the death of more options and ownership. Digital is how they get you!

my local retailers like Media Markt don't stock ps5 games at all. Only some scrappy ps4 games.
I am getting everything from online small retailers who are well competing. So it's not too bad YET

 

[kruis]

When I left the UK it was still all physical, and I used to love going to Sainsbury's at lunch time to look over the new releases. That said, I am delighted to hear than people are fully embracing digital now. Much better.

Except for the prices. I still buy physical because I can save 15-20 euro on what publishers are asking on the digital PS store. With physical you have competition on price between lots of retailers, you can borrow games to friends and family or you could sell and get some money back. All of those conveniences are gone in a completely digital world where Sony/MS can ask 80 euro for a game and you'll just have to take it or wait god knows how long for a meagre 25% price cut that brings down the price to 60 euro.

 

[Captain Toad]

Terrible, TERRIBLE decision. Digital future is a mistake that i am going to fight against it with all my power.

What power is that?

I wouldn't hold your breath on PS6 and the next Xbox having disc drives.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

One more nail in the coffin of physical. I fucking hate this digital world of everything it's becoming.

 

[Laptop1991]

Too much one sided control will come in with decision's like these, even though i've always been a PC gamer, i would still be in favour of physical sales even though it's been a long time since i bought one.

 

[Hudo]

Partly that's to do with how shit our broadband infrastructure is thanks to old farts thinking copper was "more than enough" for browsing your websites.

Shitty broadband bros for life! One of the worst chancellors we had (Helmut Kohl) decided the same thing and called off the whole initiative to get the glass fiber infrastructure built by the year 2000. And now it's an unorganizied clusterfuck of private companies trying to get that shit built.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

The sound of my launch day PS5 disc drive spinning up at 11:00 PM to play my physical copy of Elden ring is enough to sadly make me consider an all digital future next gen. I usually end up buying PSN credit for cheaper and buying games on sale. I have bought several £70 games day one this gen digital and physical though so I’m kind of 65/35 in favour of digital right now. This is sad news but the digital future is just so close and convenient now and I hate that I’m part of the problem.

That disc drive has drove me over the edge. It only spins up for 60 -90 seconds and then it’s quiet but so damn annoying.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

My local Tesco supermarket has put their games at the end of the aisle where you buy printer paper which is in the quiet part of the store away at the back next to where the guy takes passport photos. It'll be tough work for them to clear out all 3 shelves! If a new big game is out then there is sometimes a little stand of games near the front entrance.

I remember in this very store that they had a full aisle of gaming stuff including consoles/accessories etc. It was actually a good place to go get a new game at release. I'd always go to Tesco first when a new game came out to see if I could get it there instead of having to travel away into the city centre. I remember buying GTA IV, GTA V, and Portal 2....and that is the problem. The last game I bought from Tesco, and last physical Playstation game, was GTA V which as we all know is a game from a decade ago.

Time has changed. Nobody is buying physical games anymore. Alright I know there are some people still clinging desperately onto the past but it's clear that most people don't buy physical anymore.

Look at GAME stores....used to be everywhere but now they are reduced to being put in the corner of a Sports Direct store

From this...

to being stuck in a corner behind cheap clothes and barbie toys

It's time to embrace the digital future. If you don't like it then suck it up or stop playing games. Huge W


Good luck with that

Lol, is this in a GAME store? Since when did they start selling clothes

Edit: oh I’m an idiot and didn’t read, it’s in a sports direct so split across the floor space. I have seen one of those in my city. Never been in to it so guess I am truly part of the problem. I never trade games any more and their prices were always atrocious so just haven’t frequented one in years.

 

[adamsapple]

First the CMA folded, now this.

What the fuck, UK.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Terrible for customers.
No choice, no competing retailers.
This is a crazy industry. People are cheering the death of more options and ownership. Digital is how they get you!

my local retailers like Media Markt don't stock ps5 games at all. Only some scrappy ps4 games.
I am getting everything from online small retailers who are well competing. So it's not too bad YET

Well here we are at about 75-80% digital on console in 2023.

If gamers stuck to their guns about discs being the best ever for 10 different reasons like during the start of the 2013 era, console makers wouldnt have so much power.

But just about everyone converted. And as more stores give up on physical, it'll reach 85%... 90% etc...

 

[Liamario]

GameStop was no loss. They've been anti competitive for years in Ireland. They were the only game store in Ireland and they were the most expensive. Good riddance.

 

[kittoo]

I bought FF16 physical for ~$54 (thanks to 10% credit card discount on amazon) and then sold it for $50 to CEX after finishing it. Basically I paid $4 for FF16.

Will miss such deals. Physical is so good because I always have the option of reselling it to CEX, so I can take risks on games I am not sure about. Sony has no refund policy like Steam or Epic so digital there sucks.

I am not looking forward to a digital only future.

 

[stonedwal]

The UK Supermarket wars of the late 2000s and online sellers operating out of Jersey got me a lot of cheap Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games. The price drop cycle was like clockwork. Still baffled how companies could ship from UK to Australia for less than a business could ship domestically here in bulk.



I'm still mostly physical, but the day that option is taken from me is the day I shift everything over to PC. I don't like having digital goods trapped on a closed format.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

@Tesco

 

[rofif]

Well here we are at about 75-80% digital on console in 2023.

If gamers stuck to their guns about discs being the best ever for 10 different reasons like during the start of the 2013 era, console makers wouldnt have so much power.

But just about everyone converted. And as more stores give up on physical, it'll reach 85%... 90% etc...

I know and it's crazy. People being offered worse deal and are happy to take it.
You don't own it, it's more expensive... you have 0 control over it.. Digital future.
I am sad I am so old! if I was this age during ps2 era, I would have amazing collections now!

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I bought FF16 physical for ~$54 (thanks to 10% credit card discount on amazon) and then sold it for $50 to CEX after finishing it. Basically I paid $4 for FF16.

Will miss such deals. Physical is so good because I always have the option of reselling it to CEX, so I can take risks on games I am not sure about. Sony has no refund policy like Steam or Epic so digital there sucks.

I am not looking forward to a digital only future.

This really needs to be highlighted more. Both Sony and Nintendo have terrible refund policy. There's no fucking way I'm buying €80 games on PSN or €60 on eShop without a consumer friendly refund policy. At least with the cart or disc I can resell it (or even return it) if I don't like it.

 

[35cent]

I still buy physical but I'm aware that I'm fighting a losing battle. Better start preparing to bow down to the digital overlords. As for Gamestop, I applied for jobs loads of times in their stores in Dublin city centre and they never called me back so fuck them.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I know and it's crazy. People being offered worse deal and are happy to take it.
You don't own it, it's more expensive... you have 0 control over it.. Digital future.
I am sad I am so old! if I was this age during ps2 era, I would have amazing collections now!

It goes to show out of that list of bullets saying disc is better, it all got overridden by.......... I can save 12 seconds sitting on my ass pressing a launch button than getting up and putting the disc in

 

[rofif]

It goes to show out of that list of bullets saying disc is better, it all got overridden by.......... I can save 12 seconds sitting on my ass pressing a launch button than getting up and putting the disc in

yeah exactly.
it hit me even more so last week when I tried downloading something on psn only to be greeted by 30mbits/s... on 600mbit connection. nothing I could do. All out of my control.
Digital is all fine and dandy until your fav games got changed, have launcher added, music removed, your internet is dying, psn is acting up or you get hacked and so on.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

First the CMA folded, now this.

What the fuck, UK.

I thought this is the type of model you like?

An all subscription future where you own nothing?

 

[Captain Toad]

The sound of my launch day PS5 disc drive spinning up at 11:00 PM to play my physical copy of Elden ring is enough to sadly make me consider an all digital future next gen. I usually end up buying PSN credit for cheaper and buying games on sale. I have bought several £70 games day one this gen digital and physical though so I’m kind of 65/35 in favour of digital right now. This is sad news but the digital future is just so close and convenient now and I hate that I’m part of the problem.

That disc drive has drove me over the edge. It only spins up for 60 -90 seconds and then it’s quiet but so damn annoying.

I was all physical up to this generation. My first few PS5 games were on disc.

I have a media room and my consoles are in a seperate media closet. One day, I got up, walked over to my shelf to pick up the box for the game currently in the PS5 and the box with the disc I wanted to play, then across the room to make the swap. I listened to the system loudly spin the completely unnecessary disc as I walked back to my shelf to restock the boxes when I finally realized how dumb the whole thing is.

Physical media only currently exists because in the past there wasn't another way. I decided to embrace digital at that moment and haven't looked back. Game discs are the new newspaper.