Physical Media is more important than ever

Physical Media is more important than ever in the gaming industry. More players are opting to purchase their games digitally or license them with subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, Playstation Plus, and Nintendo Online. Players now have less reason than ever to buy physical copies of games. This shift has been so significant that both PlayStation and Xbox now sell digital-only consoles, eliminating disc drives.

The data backs this trend, according to Mat Piscatella , the CEO of Circana. Piscatella found that physical media is down 85% since 2008 and continuing to decline each year. While digital convenience is undeniable, this raises an important question: What happens when all your media is digital, and there’s an outage? As far-fetched as it may sound, this concern has already become a reality. Recent PlayStation Network outages left players unable to access their purchased games for 48 hours, highlighting the risks of an all-digital future.

The easiest way to keep physical video games alive is to purchase them. Unlike digital purchases, physical discs provide a safeguard against network outages and game removals. A prime example of this is Concord, a video game that PlayStation removed from its digital store, effectively making it disappear for everyone, both digitally and physically it is as if it never existed. Players who bought the game digitally were given a refund. We spoke with a content creator Kdotdagawd who mentioned his frustration with concord being removed. “The removal of Concord significantly impacted me as a creator since I was heavily invested in producing content and promoting the game. As someone who believed in its potential, the sudden shutdown was tough.” Playstation choosing to make the game completely unplayable even for those who owned the game physically is a scary precedent because companies could follow suit in the future. “As an avid fan of Concord, I'm deeply disappointed that PlayStation didn't maintain the servers or provide an option for the dedicated community to purchase and manage their own servers -this could have preserved the game.” said Kdot.

Another pro to physical media is the love, passion and sometimes madness that went into them. For example,  Tiger Woods 99 had to be recalled after a disgruntled employee uploaded an episode of South Park on the backend files on the disc. So only the first 100,000 copies have access to the episode if you insert it into a PC with a disc drive. Those types of things are not possible with digital media which causes it to feel much more lifeless.

Game preservation is crucial, and there are dedicated communities and organizations working to archive and protect these titles. One such company is Game X Change, which specializes in physical video game media. We spoke with Nick Allen, the store manager of a Game X Change location in Mississippi, about the rise of digital media and the recent PlayStation Network outages. “It has affected us, but in more positive ways than not,” Allen explained. He also shared insights on their customer base and how the shift toward digital gaming has impacted them. “Not everyone has good internet or is willing to sit through long download times. During the PlayStation Network outage, a lot of people came into the store,” said Allen.

As gaming continues its rapid digital evolution, players should consider the long-term implications of owning versus licensing their media. Physical copies may not be as convenient, but they offer a layer of security that digital libraries simply can’t match.