The video game industry is heading for massive upheaval, and nobody is safe

Between the advent of "Fortnite," the great battle between Epic Games, Steam, and Android, and the rise of streaming, no incumbent is safe in the video game industry.

[kalkano]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

The day I cannot own a copy of a game, and do whatever the hell I want with either the physical copy or the installation files (DRM-Free), is the day I become a 100% retro-gamer.

[chris235]

enjoy your tantrums while others just don‘t care about the illusion of owning something or not.

[Segata]

Enjoy being a sucker who let's corps manipulate you.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

Illusion. Could you elaborate? Please tell me how physical is an illusion?

[nix]

i think with the advent of 5G coming in the next two years or so... streaming could even be the next thing because going by what we've heard about 5G - one can connect seamlessly to hundreds of applications/products. Hell we can even stream VR games online with hundreds of others at the same time.

Of course, it won't happen in the beginning of the next gen because to make 5G happen in any city the entire city will have to be rigged with transformers almost every 100 meters... it might hit few city in the developed countries and then by the beginning of next next gen... streaming might just be the norm.

As for the ownership of games, i used to have 90% percentage of physical discs last gen, this gen... i only have 1 game on disc. 99.999999% is all digital. I really used to be one of those disc lovers but i've moved on. I'm sure people surely will too.

[WilliamSheridan]

I'll elaborate for you. The illusion of ownership with the physical copy is a false one since you are still just a license holder and most of the game downloads during the installs. Many discs are unplayable, and when digital copies are non functional, so shall the physical copies

[Jojosuperstar]

What a laughable comment based on pompous emotional argument. Nah man the only child hear throwung tantrums here is you :). You just cant accept the fact that physical owners are smarter and have way more rights than you. Get over that objective fact and move on darling ;).

William we dont need children to elaborate on an adult subject. Its obvious why you turned off replies because your delusional arguments are easily destroyed. If you lose your account all ur digital games are gone. Fact. I wont kid because i have physical :). Fact. 99% of disks are completely playable (unlike ur fictional statement) and no you dont need to download anything other than the day one patch, which again, applies to both digital and physical. Any other delusional arguments i need to destroy? No? Get back to ur delusions then. Ill smile knowing i own my games, can play them in any other playstation, and will never lose them. You, on the other hand....well good luck!

[obidanshinobi]

Wow. They got you good didn't they.

SHUT UP AND CONSUME !!!!!!

[Dragonscale]

Seems others do care and is why xbone flopped at the start of this gen. Some people have short memories.

[Artemidorus]

Deluded failure talk. You sound like you enjoy paying for nothing.

[PapaBop]

"Illusion of owning something" I think you just described the digital gaming industry.

[bellome]

Enjoy your sodomization.

[Shikoku]

Nice! Yeah go ahead give up those rights for nothing tard.

[Gwiz]

He doesn't mean owning the IP,i don't think anyone ever had that illusion lol.

[FloydianAndroid]

Do you have a brain? Not everyone wants all thier media in “the cloud” I get that you were.born in the age of thinking twitter and Facebook were essential to human survival, but some people want to own what they pay for. It would be one thing if digital was less expensive, but if I’m gonna pay 60 bucks for a game I’d like to have the packaging and the disc. That is all.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

@WilliamSheridan
1-Being a license holder still allows you to play the game on the platform when you want online or offline . This is still different than the DRM that is linked to every download of an online purchase. No one actually thinks they own the game.

2-The PS4 & Switch can all install their games without an internet connection. (If I'm not mistaken even the Xbox only needs an internet connection once out the box.)

3-Many games are unplayable????What are you talking about?????

[trooper_]

What...?

[AdmGenAladeen]

Enjoy your illusions of owing something when you will NEVER OWN S*IT when you buy it digitally. It can and probably will someday be taken from you. Enjoy being that corporate slave. It's people like you that lay down for these corporations and let them shovel half baked bs out there only to patch them later with 6 months worth of stupid patches. I guess that's the difference between the new generation and people who grew up gaming without all this needless digital patching. I swear reading some of these comments that some people are just spineless.

[SixFragz]

you sound like an illusion

[The Wood]

I have friends and family who I lend and sell to. Physical is still a worthy option for me. I do both and wouldn't want to be restricted to just one or the other.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Stalin?! You're alive?!

[TheHan]

This guy 👆 must be a Democrat lol.

[Potnoodle999]

Haha another one who massively underestimates just how many gamers agree with this opinion. Guessing your one of the ones who was shouting the same thing five years ago.... look how that turned out! 😂 so hilarious.

Anyway I agree, the console maker who makes everything online only with drm everywhere can go to hell. The people have spoken before and we will do so again and they will fall flat on their face AGAIN. You cannot tell consumers what they SHOULD want. The consumers decide in all cases and in no way can you ever pull the wool over our eyes. Lol at these execs that think they can.

[LamerTamer]

Not everyone has uber stellar internet connections like you either. Many have data caps, many have less than top end speeds, hell some don't even have internet. As next gen get bigger with 4K content I don't want to wait days for a 100+ GB game to download. HDD or console failure and you need to re-download TB s of games?

Also not everyone likes to just rent either.

[blank_keys]

chris235 is correct. Everyone here is mad lmao. Not one person in this thread will become a so called “retro-gamer”. You will all be playing the current consoles and games that are out, the same way you troglodytes do with the PS4 which has no BC like Xbox One but you all somehow justify PS Now where you pay $20 a week to struggle stream. And don’t get me started on censored games. So cut it out with the fake madness.

[sampsonon]

Excuse them, for they are like children.
They whine and complain all the time. Matter of fact? i don't think they even play games, they just buy the cd's to put on a shelf to stare at while they look online for something else to whine about.

the industry is being destroyed by these children.
gamers are either 1. Just play games and could care less about the day to day practices of the industry 2. Come to these sites to see what's new in the industry 3. Woman hating racist that want to spew their hatred. And 4. people that think they're entitled to have everything the way they want it.
There is nothing in between.

Why aren't people complaining about musical cd's anymore?
Because you can't win when it comes to evolution.

[indysurfn]

The one that don't care is the one that is falling for an illusion that they own something.

[XtaZ]

You and everyone else who make that statement are never going to follow through with it and we all know it.

[annoyedgamer]

I already Don't buy PC games despite having a gaming PC because I refuse to use Steam.

[Cobra951]

It's an exaggeration on his part, I think. But what is clear is that gamers like him and like me won't accept Netflix-like streaming. I'm confident there will always be locally running alternatives, even if they become less popular. That is where I'll always be. It includes retro, a hefty backlog of more recent games, and whatever else comes in physical or download form in the future.

[darthv72]

They talk the talk but hardly ever walk the walk. Like all those celebrities who said they would leave the country if Trump was elected.

[yomfweeee]

I'm old enough nowadays that I can leave gaming behind if I chose to and my kids can't get anything.

My problem with digital is pricing being higher and the inability to trade. If they get greedy and force their stores to be used, it will be the end for me as well.

[gangsta_red]

@Xtaz

💯% agreed.

It's like the times where we all read no one would pay to play online. That was instantly swept under the rug when not only Sony adopted it but now Nintendo.

If all three adopt all digital, there's really nothing we can do about this. And saying I'll quit gaming is admirable but definitely not a reality.

[LamerTamer]

gangsta_red

Microsoft said the same thing with the xbone. It is always online and requires a kinect to be on, no exceptions, there is nothing you can do about it # dealwithit. Until everyone pre-ordered the PS4 instead. I guess after that there is something we CAN do, just don't buy it. If all three do it don't upgrade and keep your PS4 XB1 etc. Now I know that won't happen because gamers have almost zero self control, but it is in the consumers hands if we want.

[indysurfn]

Actually Kalango is not a douchbag sellout. He will not sell out to RENTING TO NEVER OWN. That's a business model meant for a fool. How many people can play ALL their digital copies of Last gens digital xbox 360? I sold my xbox 360 to a family member and they can't play all the digital games anymore.

[n1kki6]

So you stopped gaming about two years ago?

[n1kki6]

A disc is just a physical DRM at this point. The game installs to your hard drive and you use your disc as a physical license to access the content. It's been that way for years. The only difference between digital and physical at this point is people assumption that the disc isn't DRM, which is just moronic at this stage.

[FunAndGun]

You can still sell a physical disc right? Can you sell your digital copy? .....that is the only difference that matters.

[XtaZ]

@FunAndGun. One of the features of Microsoft's original Xbox One plans was going to let you resell digital copies, but none of you wanted any of that.

[Goldby]

@Xtaz
and another "feature" was if you couldn't connect to their servers, you couldn't even play said physical or digital game....

none of us wanted that

[n1kki6]

and look at where we are, no you still need to connect to servers because games never ship complete. Go ahead and try to play spyro off the disc, or any game in the last 3 years. I don't really ever sell my games, but even so, the digital prices during sales are so cheap, and resale on games is garbage, I don't really see a need unless you are buying a game, beating it and selling in the first 2 weeks. If that is the case you might as well just use redbox or gamefly.

[XtaZ]

@Goldby. Yeah you could as long as you did a quick online check-in every 24 hours. After that you could take your console completely offline for the next 24 hours and play all your physical and digital games like normal.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

@n1kki6
-Physical can be bought outside of the platform holders store.
-Can be traded or sold.
-No company is crazy enough to lock physical content. There are many downloadable games that the same can't be said for. Remember PT.
-If you locked out of the platform holders network you can still play physical games. Locked out with all digital say goodbye to all your content.

[Potnoodle999]

Honestly not even sure why anyone would want always online. Imagine if their network was hacked and went Down for a week or two. If that happened now it would be no big deal. But with always online that would be a disaster for everyone and the company would be a laughing stock. It would be an absolute shambles😂😂

[LamerTamer]

That is a dumb comment and the result is WAY different. If I have the disc I can use anywhere on any console at any time and not have to go online to ask some overlord's permission. I can sell it, lend it, keep it, knowing it will still work in 10 years as a "retro game" even if the console I originally bought it for is broken and replaced. With the disc I control when and where I play it, with online the publisher decides for me.

[LamerTamer]

@XtaZ

Why should I have to through the hassle to go online "check in" with someone else just to use games I bought? You think that is good? It is like having to ask your mommy before playing a game, I guess you are used to that.

[XtaZ]

@LamerTamer

This "hassle" as you put it was literally you just turning on the console and the online check-in was automated in the background so you wouldn't have even noticed it happening. So strange that you find that a hassle but you don't mind the hassle of travelling to the store, buying the game, travelling back home or wait for it to arrive in the mail if you purchased it online, unwrap it, take it out of the case, place it in the disc drive, swapping discs when you wanna play something else, placing them back in their case so they don't scratch, place them in the shelves and take them back out when you want to replay them...

In addition physical discs also have a limited lifespan and some of the earlier disc based games on the market like Sega CD are notorious for failing now due to disc rot and corrupt data layers. Some PS1/2 collectors have also started reporting unplayable discs despite no obvious damages to the disc so basically if you want to keep your discs functioning for as long as possible you'll have to take sunlight, temperatures, humidity, dust build-up and physical contact with the disc's surface into consideration, and even then your disc's probably won't last your entire lifetime.

Realistically your old consoles will completely die long before your discs do and the laser is most likely to fail first so have fun with the hassle of repurchasing replacement consoles or spare parts to maintain your ability to play those discs because eventually future consoles will ditch CD-roms altogether and physical BC won't be possible. Too bad you didn't go digital and could have just downloaded and played your games on your Xbox Three, PS6 and Nintendo Switcharoo instead.

"Buh- buh- but turning on my console for a automated online check-in is such a hassle! *sobs* " - LamerTamer

You stupid fuck.

[Clunkyd]

@n1KKi6 Please educate yourself about reselling games.

[Zeref]

okay cool.

[chiefJohn117]

Not gonna let somethings like DRM stop me from playing mk11 and gta6, etc. I can understand being upset but if you're a gamer and you have the accessibility and it isn't anymore expensive, why is any of this stopping you from playing these games? There's things you can do to show support of disk based content and they'll likely listen but I don't a reason to stop gaming as whole. It's like complaining about a game that's exclusive to another platform. Either buy into the platform or be quiet

[kalkano]

Platform? What the hell do I care what platform it's on? It's about OWNERSHIP. I'm not going to pay $60 for what is basically a long-term rental. Basically, keep your fingers off of my property, so that I can play it any time I want, with no internet connection required, or I'm out. That's exactly what this is all about for these publishers. They want to control your property, for their own financial gain. I say screw that. Not interested.

[on_line_forever]

I agree with you

[CaptainCook]

Cringe comment lol

[conanlifts]

I agree to some extent. The only difference is I like the gamepass model. If I could subscribe to a service like gamepass and get access to every game I want, and more, for that fee then I don't mind that model. But if I buy a game I want to physically own it.

[LamerTamer]

That is fine as an OPTION. When that becomes the only way to get content no thanks. Not everyone wants to rent only or have a hundred different services to have to pay for.

[neomahi]

Uh.... Yup. Agreed 100% DLC and Microtransactions are a joke. It's just a way to pick your pocket. People need to learn to be patient and wait for a sequel, instant gratification has always proven to destroy. "Good things come to those who wait". Keep letting Microsoft pick your pocket and they'll continue to have no respect for you. Put your foot down and make them earn your money, they'll respect you and give you a quality product where now, they're robbing you blind with no remorse. All these indie games, we're in the 4K generation now, there's no reason to have games looking like SNES and Genesis games, developers are taking advantage of people doing as little of work as possible and capitalizing on their investment, bull! In my opinion, indie games shouldn't be developed on consoles. Development them for mobile and handhelds. If I were promoting my console, I'd market it as a console, where the big boys play. Let indies develop and make their money on PC and have handhelds for indies, then make games that push consoles to their limits, not barely get them off the couch.

[SugarSoSweet]

Well said, nice to see some gamers still have some self pride and dignity left.....

[sampsonon]

And I'll be playing state of the art AAA games in 4k at 60fps.
But hey, i respect your passion.

[Vasto]

yea, sure you will. /SMH

[Profchaos]

You'd better dust off your crt real quick because it's mostly a reality already even single player games come unpolished and require bugs to be smoothed out with patches

[ILostMyMind]

Translating: "I pirate games."

[kalkano]

Is it "piracy" if you paid for a legitimate copy? I think not.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Scary times, luckily there is still a market for SP games and physical media. But the Battle Royale, GaaS, digital future is inevitable. Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76, RDR Online. Some of the worst experiences of the year inspired by greed, and this is only the beginning. Microsoft, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, even R* and Bethesda.

[Godmars290]

No they are not inevitable. Or rather, they are not what the industry will solely be.

[King_Noctis]

Sea of Thieves have zero microtransaction, so why is it in there?

[Shikoku]

Hahaha cause it's garbage

[IamTylerDurden1]

I don't care how long Rare spent on SoT, but i do care that Microsoft shipped a $60 free to play. SoT was originally developed as a vehicle for MTs, former Rare devs even discussed the fact that MTs were supposed to be a foundation of the game. Then EA happened and Microsoft had no choice but to pull back. So they announced that MTs would launch 3 months after launch. Then, SoT launches to terrible reviews and widespread criticism. Rare was forced to add fluff to the game in attempt to rectify the lack of content rather than implement their MT program. MTs will likely come early 2019 and the game was designed with MTs as a foundation, it just so happens that Battlefront 2 threw a wrench into those plans.

Maybe SoT is such a bad game because they created the financial model before the actual game? Perhaps they were more concerned with creating GaaS software than actual compelling content? Traditionally you have a great creative idea and then figure out a way to monetize it, not the other way around. However, i can see how working for Microsoft would influence this greatly so i honestly point the blame at the publisher more than i do Rare.

I understand that Rare has been adding content to the game, but the lack of content issue was just "a" problem, not "the" problem. It's great that there's more content, but the game at its foundation is still bad. Unless Rare completely revamps combat, quest structure, progression, and adds numerous different enemy types you are just adding more bad content.

Sea of Thieves was originally built on the idea of greed and even though the EA fiasco forced them to make a 9th inning switch the base game design choices were still influenced by it and the game was terrible because of it. Rare and Microsoft wanted to sell people a $60 free to play and no amount of backtracking can change that. Yes, Sony screwed up royally at launch with GTS, but it took a few months to make the game great, SoT is still bad. Tbh, GTS is a game built around competition, it was never supposed to be a traditional GT game. But the game wasn't designed around greed, it was designed to elevate the genre. Regardless, GTS was excellent in every facet other than content and that was rectified soon after launch. Both Sony and MS screwed up with their games, but the sins of Rare led to a disaster of game.

[ILostMyMind]

You strive to believe in Microsoft. Sea of ​​Thieves does not have microtransactions because it was a failure and Microsoft had to shift its focus to not burn out its new goal, Game as a Service.

[aconnellan]

What part of Sea of Thieves was inspired by greed? It’s a new IP they spent years making.

Content or no at launch, I don’t see how spending years developing a new IP, and building it out with free major content updates after launch is greedy

[DaDrunkenJester]

Also considering it has 0 MT's, I'm not sure what's greedy about it.

[william_cade]

They spent years making Sea of Thieves?! hahahahahah Seriously how many?

[Purrfection]

Sea Of Thieves is no different than GT Sport other than GT Sport is a much better game. Sony also started this streaming on consoles, so I'm not sure why you neglect to mention them.

Digital is gaining popularity because it's very convenient, so you can't really blame greed on that. It's what many consumers prefer.

[IamTylerDurden1]

GTS was designed around competition and Sony has supported that aspect beautifully. Every facet of the game other traditional sp content was on point from day one and the sp content was rectified shortly after launch. PD has added heaps of free content every single month for over a year and they are still doing it. Sure, PD and Sony screwed up. They misjudged how people would receive a competition based GT and they fixed the issue. They still built a hell of a foundation, hence the reason that GT Sport is such a great game atm. For the record i have ripped Sony countless timess for releasing GT the way they did, especially after DC was so undercooked at launch. But GT Sport and SoT are two totally different issues and not nearly the same quality of game. Btw, GT Sport is a phenomenal game.

[gangsta_red]

@tyler
It's absolutely hilarious how you try your best to shit on GaaS but then fully defend Sony's own GaaS with absolutely ridiculous comments like the one above.

Let's not even bring up the fact Sony/Dev lied when they said it wasn't supposed to be part 7 and also lied about microtransactions. But yeah, all is forgiven because Sony has supported "the aspect beautifully".

[jwillj2k4]

These articles are ridiculous. The future is what the people make it. Companies that have tried to dictate the future usually end up backtracking or going under if the people do not gravitate towards it.

In the end it’s all about user experience and how the future of gaming is presented which will determine what the people want.

[Purrfection]

"GTS was designed around competition and Sony has supported that aspect beautifully. Every facet of the game other traditional sp content was on point from day one and the sp content was rectified shortly after launch. PD has added heaps of free content every single month for over a year and they are still doing it. Sure, PD and Sony screwed up. They misjudged how people would receive a competition based GT and they fixed the issue. They still built a hell of a foundation, hence the reason that GT Sport is such a great game atm. For the record i have ripped Sony countless timess for releasing GT the way they did, especially after DC was so undercooked at launch. But GT Sport and SoT are two totally different issues and not nearly the same quality of game. Btw, GT Sport is a phenomenal game."

So tell me again how they are different because you explained exactly what I told you. SoT also got a ton of content post release and all free. I already said GT Sport was better but you keep arguing they are different somehow as though SoT is GaaS while GT Sport isn't?

[bluefox755]

The writer assumes that expansion means the dissolution of existing markets, which is just silly.

[Godmars290]

Because the industry is both eating itself while trying to dictate what its customer base is.

[ApocalypseShadow]

GREED is going to be the downfall and closer of a lot of these companies. Or, lead to their eventual purchase by someone bigger. None of these developers had to use Steam, the Windows store, Playstation store, etc. They were free to sell their products on the free market of the PC at any time. Or make their own hardware. They CHOSE to put their products on someone else's store. But now don't like the deal.

70/30 in their favor is not a bad deal when the store owner is advertising your product. Now they want their cake and eat it too. Nothing wrong with going it alone and making your own money. But they seem to now be biting the hand that fed them.

And in the process of moving to their own stores, they are fracturing the market when you used to have one store or one box with supported content. Now, because of CHOICE, we all will have to possibly subscribe to multiple services just to enjoy the same content we enjoyed in one store or on one box.

Why would developers go to Sony, Epic, Microsoft, EA, etc, when they could just set up their own store. And find out it wasn't as easy as it looks. These same companies they are biting, can bite back and update their software to not run theirs like Google Android. I don't want monopolies, but I also don't want fracturing of the market that will lead to higher costs. Because, in order to go it alone, they will have to raise the cost of software to keep up guaranteed. On top of subscription on top of subscription. And some of these stores will not get noticed leading to their going to the bigger guys and make a deal or go out of business.

Also, the article mentions this

**notably the failed OnLive service and Sony's own PlayStation Now**
https://www.google.com/amp/...

Failure huh? Not that I like streaming over physical. But okay. Sure. Looks like companies are gunning for Sony's dominance.

[Cobra951]

More than just advertising. They're providing the entire infrastructure for obtaining and maintaining the products, and communications. But if Epic can do the same, and turn a profit at 10%, Valve will have to rethink their fees. (They're nobody's master. No developer needs to act like a loyal puppy toward Steam. Gabe has already been paid in spades.) The free market and competition are always good for us.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Free market is going to lead to paying more and more. We see that now with the television industry. In order to watch the same content that was on regular television, you now have to subscribe to multiple companies to get the same thing. It's getting out of hand. If it happens to videogames, it will fracture the market leading to paying more money. Besides the fact of losing physical ownership of your games, not being able to trade,lend to a friend, etc.

Netflix over here, Hulu over there, CBS all Access here, DC network over there,etc. And soon, companies like Disney will join the fray and to watch programs you enjoyed somewhere else, you now have to purchase another subscription.

They don't have to be loyal, but having EA over here, Activision over there, ubisoft over here, capcom over there, square over here, etc is just going to destroy the market. Or kill the little companies in the process that don't have huge funds to advertise. Too many services and too many streams will just lead to consumer confusion and market fracturing.

[AK91]

except you know no one really cares about streaming and this gen showed people still loved physical copies of games. If AAA publishers don't see that then they will get little to zero consumer and more importantly loss of money.

[PowerOfTheCloud]

I

[Tross]

Well, I for one don't support companies that resort to unethical business practices and try to tell me what I want. With any luck the upheaval will be the removal of the cancer that is these companies in the form of them filing for bankruptcy due to their customer base dwindling.

[kalkano]

"and try to tell me what I want."

Or try to tell you that you're dumb or a bad person for wanting what you want. I can't believe how often I see entertainment companies attacking their own fans, these days. What boggles my mind even more, is that no one above their heads is firing them for it.

[Tross]

That's probably because it's the top brass that's doing this. They fail to consider that maybe I want to keep having ownership over the games I pay for, among other things, but there's no reasoning with a suit in a nice office with a waterfront view who puts his feet up on a mahogany desk and thinks of me and you as nothing more than pawns. Well, these companies can count on having at least one fewer pawn to work with.

[2pacalypsenow]

I see another game crash in the next 10 years.

[Chaos_Order]

And if it does it shall be glorious.

[Dragonscale]

Its happening now tbh with certain greedy and lazy pubs.

[IMissJimRyan]

It's naive. The crash of US game market of the 80's was something very specific.

I'm not saying you do this, but a lot of gamers think that captalism works by customer satisfaction. The game companies already changed the landscape of the business for something better for them. Most of the money is already made in game services.

What we are seeing is the big three traditional companies (Nintendo, Sony and specially Microsoft) moving themselves for the new dominant model. Phil Spencer from Microsoft stated that don't even look to Sony and Nintendo as their major competitors, but Amazon and Google.

Maybe they "crash" with traditional gamer, but the expanded base they developed and now are expanding will compensate for the loss many times. Thats the difference from the US 80's crash.

[FGHFGHFGH]

Amazon and Google are Microsoft's competition in cloud services, which is Microsoft's main money maker now. I think the target audience for xbox is different, or was. Google sells games sure, but cellphone games and console games don't really compete with each other. But xbox seems to be getting a lot of these low budget indy cellphone games so maybe they are going after the cellphone games market

[Fist4achin]

Upheaval, they will cannibalize themselves and theyll have no one to blame but themselves. They suck!

[TheColbertinator]

New developers will give us options and treat us with respect. Everyone else can die.

[Kainbrightside]

Maybe big companies should worry but if the demand exists others will fill the void it's why I love this era of Indie games that make fun experiences that are reasonably priced

[Chaos_Order]

Yup. Indies get a bad rap but they usually have more heart and soul put into them than the average AAA schlock.

[Dragonscale]

True theres a lot of crappy indies out there but quite a few are fantastic and put most aaa's in the shade.

[Hardiman]

As long as there are companies like Sony, Nintendo and the other devs and publishers who deliver amazing, quality SP experiences I'm in. This other horsesh*t is for the birds!

[IMissJimRyan]

I think they will keep making them, but as any open capital companies they will pressured to come onboard the new trend. Like Nintendo had put their IPs on mobile and Sony investing in streaming.

SP games will become more sparse over time while resources are moved to more profitable models.

[Chaos_Order]

Almost every gamer I speak to says they have a stack of games or a mountainous steam library that they just can't get around to. So how about we all do the sensible, logical thing and stop buying games until that backlog is gone completely.

Hmm... I wonder what would happen... ;)

[Dragonscale]

If I did that I wouldn't have to buy a new game for about 3 years lol.

[Tapani]

I play my backlogs away and buy games mostly on Black Fridays. I was down to 3 games during Spring time this year.

Games cost me around $600 a year, including all the games for the family. I'm relatively well off and would have money to buy all the games I want at launch prices. I just choose to control myself and buy stuff that is typically over 85 on Metacritic and on a discount, or really only buy the genre I enjoy (and even then it needs to be at least over 80/100.) I do buy some stuff at release like Dragon Quest XI and God of War, but I'm getting more and more wary of doing that due to early stage bugs, discounts, and being let down by RDR2 and FFXV. I mainly play single player Japanese games, and the occasional western stuff like TLOU, GoW and Detroit etc.

Got 13 games in my backlog now, 5 of them 90% done, some can be completed fast, most are 40 - 60hrs long. Got a system I'm following to keep the hobby in check. So I've got a list of stuff I am working on, and list of stuff I want to buy next year. 2020 is unclear now, but I've got enough games to keep me busy until then :)

[kalkano]

You should start ignoring metacritic. The reviewers that contribute to that score do not have your best interests in mind.

[FallenAngel1984]

Nope it’s not going to kill the traditional market

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

People vote with your wallet and support Physical if you don't like the direction they could take it. Lets not just talk about it and do the opposite.

[plmkoh]

And once again the gamers will punish the companies that try to shovel their garbage.

It's like a plague that comes out every decade. People learn nothing.

[FanboysKiller]

You've just described how pc is irrelevant for video games.

[Cobra951]

Seems to me someone is deluded.

[RichardKing90]

Interesting news. I think the future is virtual reality games.

[Artemidorus]

All this saving money and control our games library is not for me.

[Einhander1971]

I’m practically 100% retro gamer now. I only play modern games if they really interest me which nowadays is few and far between unfortunately.

[FloydianAndroid]

The liberals called. They want their fake news back.

[Shikoku]

Sorry, we are already seeing the fall or the beginnings of a new bubble burst with the latest stock dives. The gaming market in the US maybe the world this time will see a crash before that happens I think.

[gamer7804]

remember when they said 3d would be the future for the last decade? Remember when they said VR would be the future every year for the last decade? same with streaming games really, they'll never be as good as owning a local games, so it will always be an "option" but the first platform holder to embrace only streaming is the first loser in the console wars.

[kalkano]

Industry heads basically say the future is whatever they think will be the most profitable. They just want the customers to believe it and hop on board. Unfortunately for them, the customers need to WANT what they're selling.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I’m strictly digital this gen and will probably remain that way from here on out. For me the Benefits of using digital out weight the negatives. I love buying a game and being able to game share it with my Son who lives over 100 miles away from me. That in its self to me is worth the sacrifice of physical media. I bought my kid the Spider-Man PS4 for Xmas and guess what I had to do? INSTALL the ENTIRE game before I could even play it. That tells me the disc is nothing more than a license. Face it like music, physical media is on its way out like it or not...

[Bo4lox]

Best option I would guess would be to make the next console with a re-writable drive / USB backup and make the content locked to your account.
Then you could get rid of the physical release for the digital download and still keep a physical backup.. If you so choose.. But I am guessing ppl still would not happy since the could not sell / trade said copy..

[kalkano]

The only way I will accept that, is if I can take DRM-free installation files (no internet connection needed, after initial download), and back them up on an external drive. You and I both know that publishers will never allow that.

[Atomicjuicer]

If they could encrypt it to your offline sign in password maybe that would work.

The main issue is that when servers are old they just turn them off and there’s nothing gamers can do.

They should have a policy that unlocks it in the event that they choose to stop hosting it and it should be a rule for all digital games.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Physical > Digital

If not, I'll play on ps2 or find a new hobby

[NeoGamer232]

I have been gaming since the very first generation of games in the 1970's.

One thing to count on is that you cannot predict anything or which way everything will go.

Most AAA games have become increasingly complex, much more realistic looking, and more online/mobile centric almost every year.

People have chosen to fight this and they are not wrong, but progress towards realism, complexity, and online/mobile will continue for the foreseeable future. I don't see a future with no consoles. They are simplistic to setup and they provide a way to play in the luxury of your home with the quality of the audio and visual system you can afford. But, I do see consoles as "just another device I can play games on". I travel a lot and gaming on my phone is something I like to do, and gaming on my laptop PC is something I like to do, and gaming on my console is something I like to do. Frankly, I just like gaming and the more ways I can game and enjoy the better!

[thehitman1398]

Plz just stop with this hyperbole crap about how the industry is headed towards a crash or headed towards this, or that. If anything you as "supposed" gaming journalist are only trying to stoke the fire.

[Traecy]

Once they stop making physical copies of games gaming is over for me.

[BlaqMagiq1]

I will always be physical>digital. I like to actually OWN my games. If consoles go all streaming I'm done with console gaming and will go PC. I refuse to let companies control how I own my library of games. At least with PC GOG exists.

[Atomicjuicer]

Have they learned NOTHING from the Xbox always online catastrophe?

Digital consumer rights are non existent. You get hacked or have a username that sounds unfriendly in a foreign language or some musician changes their minds and everything goes away. There is no protection.

[Nacho_Z]

If they can make it so games can be played through streaming with exactly the same response time and reliability that we have now with a traditional setup then I will embrace it because the quality of gaming will far surpass anything that you could hope to experience from a home console or PC.

I'm dubious as feck whether that will ever happen but technology moves fast so I don't want to rule anything out. The additional problem with it is that it only applies to people with good to great internet connections and that's far from every gamer.

[william_cade]

I will stop playing consoles whatever gen goes always online.

[ChasingTheSun]

I love fortnite

[LamerTamer]

Damn millennials ruined everything. They killed music, killed high quality movies (Blu-ray is higher bit rate and quality than highly compressed streaming), now they set their crosshairs on games too. They seem to think you need to be online for everything, they probably don't even take a piss with out logging on first.

[merciless]

What is with all these lesser known sites pushing this "streaming is the future narrative." I'm not looking to play low fidelity built for streaming games like Sea Of Thieves and State of Decay?

How is Microsoft going to lead next generation when they haven't introduced a new AAA ip since 2015. I mean sure, they'll announce something new @E3 2019 but that'll be 4 years straight. The only place where XB leads is Phil Spencer's twitter mentions where he spends all day blowing PR smoke.

[sampsonon]

if you want hard copies pay more :)

[Profchaos]

The landscape of games has never been static 15 years ago people laughed at the concept of steam 25 years ago it was absurd to put a game on a cd instead of a cartridge