GameStop Boss Says Disc Drives Should Be Required On Game Consoles

"It would be great if people had to buy more of the thing," says guy who makes money selling the thing.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Absolutely consoles needs disc drives.

[wesnytsfs]

Nah should be optional. Not a PS fan but I like their strategy of selling an optional external optical drive. Its all about Options and this will let everyone get their way. Cheaper for digital only and then you can chose to pay more for the optical drive if that is important to you.

[Profchaos]

That's not official yet it's only a rumour

[Eonjay]

@Profchaos

But what he describes already exists in the 2 base models. If it is a rumor you can blame Microsoft for really backing it in court but if we are honest we all know it's true.

[Profchaos]

@Eonjay I'm not denying the appeal of it I can see it being a useful mechanism for allowing gamers to upgrade as needed however until there's concrete proof and not speculation and remember ms still bases that court submitted document off of the same leaks we see on Reddit, 4chan etc I just can't believe it.

The system would be further opened to exploitation and they would need to release an overpriced drive for consumers to buy for it and sure as they do we will hear complaints over the cost of it

[ChasterMies]

Absolutely consoles don’t need disc drives. My house has 2 PS5 digital editions, one since launch. Zero issues with the lack of disc drives. In fact, the digital purchasing lets us all share each other’s games, usually mine, and play the same game at the same time on-line.

[shadowT]

Optional drives would be best strategy.

[-Foxtrot]

If they did then collectors wouldn’t be getting f***** over with discless collectors editions

[jeromeface]

yea they would, discs cost extra... even when you're already paying a premium

[-Foxtrot]

Lmao

We are paying roughly the same now without the discs. There’s literally collectors editions which are roughly in the same price range that have a disc.

I’d rather pay a little more for something physical anyway

[RupeeHoarder]

No shock, GameStop is alive because of trading. If they don't have used games on their shelves they are absolutely donezo.

[darthv72]

Well of course the GS boss thinks this... that's their bread and butter business. That and funco pops and clothing, though those two were added as a means to supplement the decline in people buying used games or even new games. GS just sucks overall when it comes to gaming. I buy my physical stuff on Amazon or Best Buy.

As for "requiring" disc drives... nah. Not anymore, but i like having them as an option. They had a means back when games actually ran off the discs and were more/less complete. Now they are incomplete and the disc is really an installer with a license to play. If you want to change games you have to take out the disc and put in another. Its more convenient to just use digital. I have been into digital for years now and when the PSPortal comes along i wont even have to go into my game room. I will just play my PS5 from my couch downstairs. I have a bunch of digital installed games to my 5... I'm all set.

[Kayser81]

imagine next 10 years , the only way to play video games is through the cloud .
i hope when that time comes , i would move on to something else to enjoy .

[jznrpg]

If it ever goes all digital I’ll be playing my older games a lot more. I have a couple thousand games from NES to PS5 so I’m good. I’ll probably go to the outdoor range more too.

[Profchaos]

Agree I'd definitely be going retro also tbh I've been shifting over to playing more retro stuff since the PS5 xsx gen started given how much stuff comes out broken and overpriced

[franwex]

If every year is as good as this, I will probably stay. I was growing very disappointed with gaming in the last few years and was not really excited anymore. I think in the last couple of years there was literally zero games that I was truly excited for.

[RedDevils]

I'm probably similar. Which is why I will try VR for different experience.

[NotoriousWhiz]

I mostly game on steam these days. Last I checked, you can't find a physical steam game.

Also, the main benefit of physical is for resale value / lending games / making your shelf look cool. I don't do any of those, so I'm cool with digital.

I still have a mostly useless collection of floppy disks from back in the day. Things change over time. Usually, it's for the better even if we can't see it in the present.

The world isn't ready to remove physical yet, but in 20 years, who knows. Maybe we lose discs and go back to cartridges. Maybe 6G defies physics, is available worldwide and has latency equal to a physical console. Only time will tell.

What I can say, is that an all cloud future will not happen if technology is not ready for it to happen. And there is a long ways to go before we even come close.

[Hofstaderman]

I have amassed a substantial physical collection. Should this day ever come, I'm going completely retro. For me the golden era was the ps1 in any case and I constantly replay rpgs from that time too on an annual basis.

[shinoff2183]

Snes and ps1 for me especially for jrpgs

[raWfodog]

I've been gaming for 45 years across different consoles, computers, and media. I'm pretty sure that I'll be gaming for as long as I can in any form that's necessary for me to play those games. But that's just me. Everyone got to do what's right for them.

[Vengeance1138]

So weird to see the split thought process on Consoles VS PC.
Consoles need disc drives but not PC?
All Digital future is the devil on console but totally fine for PC?

I thought PC was the master race here huh? Rules for thee but not for me?

[Tzuno]

Their majority of business is built @ physical media, that brings the money to them, what else are you expect him to say.

[sinspirit]

I only use disc drives for Bluray movies really. Not so much for games unless it's a really nice physical edition

[z2g]

Of course he does… he sells discs in a time when fewer ppl want to buy discs. Consider that discless consoles exist bc market research shows many ppl will pay less to give up something like a disc drive. I mean most computers don’t even have disc drives these days. They are wasteful and unnecessary at this point. And if you actually think a disc drive is protecting you from some corporate bogeyman, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

[FatalityX77]

I think the next gen consoles will be digital only,
but with optional disc drives for movies and games. that seems to be what playstation is doing going forward. Treat it as an accessory.
That would be great so you don't regret buying digital consoles later.

[OhReginald]

Not sure why a consumer would be against it. They literally save you money, and you can sell it afterwards if you don't want it. There are no options for that through a digital marketplace. Hell there's still some old games on psn store for full launch price.

[Chocoburger]

From the beginning of disc-based gaming these companies should have made their disc drives (the most likely fail point of the hardware) easily replaceable. It would have saved a ton of consoles from being junked and creating many tons of e-waste.

I don't buy as many games these days, but I still want physical discs, and I'm hoping the rumors of a replaceable disc drive in future Sony consoles is true. It's what we've needed all along. If the drive fails, pull it out and place a new one inside, nice and easy.

Because of this it also means that disc drives shouldn't be mandatory anymore either, since you could just go digital only as some gamers prefer.

[hiawa23]

Of course he would say that as digital is going to be final nail in GS's coffin. 95% of my games are digital so a disc drive I am fine without. My PS5 is digital.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol of course he's gonna say that

[Profchaos]

I personally don't want to buy a console without a drive for me in Australia games can cost at least $30 less on average on day 1 at retail vs digital
For example I brought mw2 for $69 on day 1 disc vs $110 that Activision wanted for digital.

Horizon fw cost me $79 physical vs $125 digital

And Spiderman 2 will again be around $80 vs $125

What I don't like about physical is the game is no longer complete on day 1 as many games run terrible without patching or worse contains nothing on the disc like MW2 or Halo infinite.
Or like many switch games require a mandatory download.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Adapt GameStop.

You can be Netflix or Blockbuster, it’s your choice.

For now, the SSD on my PS5 is the most expensive component, so I plan to never waste it by utilizing a disc drive to boot up a game.

Sorry not sorry.

[ocelot07]

Much rather have a optional model. Hopefully the rumours about Sony's revamped ps5 is true.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Agreed 100 percent!

[hombreacabado]

where was he when the consoles launched discless? lol

[hombreacabado]

also lovely that gamestop sold these discless consoles than complains about the return rate.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I’m a strictly digital guy but even I wouldn’t want a non disk drive option for ANY console. I don’t understand people who want to take other people’s options.

[GoodGuy09]

One thing we can agree on with GameStop lol. Obviously they need physical media, but I think it should always stay the norm forever...wishful thinking.

[OneLove]

You can tell that in the future consoles will have no disc drive

[rippermcrip]

Really? Gee whiz.

I got some more breaking news. ExxonMobil is against electric vehicles!!

[Agent75]

Imagine it. All consoles digital. Games £70+ as they are now. The average person who has a mortgage, kids and bills to pay. The cost of these consoles and VR, gaming is starting to dig a whole for itself.

[TheEnigma313]

Optional is good. Let the gamers decide what they want.

[jeromeface]

He just knows his business model would be trash in an all digital space, you cant resell digitital copies.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

I just waiting to see the movie about GameStop and Wall street.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

I will say most of the games I bought in the last couple of years has been digital but I feel it is important for me to have a disc drive on my console.

[mastershredder]

Of course he’s going to say that. Jeez. Their whole profit margin has been based of selling used dic based games.