Digital market 'will overtake' retail, claims TimeGate

The digital market for games is quickly closing the gap on retail and we'll see downloadable software overtaking retail within "a couple of years," TimeGate CEO Adel Chaveleh has told VideoGamer.com.

In an interview with VideoGamer.com, the Section 8: Prejudice developer revealed he believes the retail market is too difficult for most publishers to compete in.

"It's a tough market," he said, "and it's fortified. To go in and compete at retail, you either have to be one of those that are firmly entrenched in retail or you've got to able to go buy your way in. If you draw up some analogies to the music industry, a few years back - not even that long ago - we're already accepting that the music industry is digital. You want music? Go buy it on iTunes or every other outlet that's out there now."

He added: "The gaming market will evolve that way, too.

[DanSolo]

I wouldn't have a problem with that if it didn't just end up another way for us to pay more...

Take Mass Effect 2 on PSN....£47.99 to download... WTF is that all about?
I can buy it at GAME for £39.99 with their overheads, and I can buy it from www.shopto.net for £35.99 with free delivery...

How can they possibly charge more to sell it digitally?
No overheads; no storage, no salespeople to pay, no transportation costs, and no delivery fees... yet it costs £12 more...

Fucking rip off!

[JsonHenry]

Agree 100% with you man!

I think that is why STEAM has been so successful as a DD program. Typically (though not always) STEAM is cheaper than the brick and mortar stores. And usually by a decent amount.

However, there is something to be said for actually owning a physical copy of something.

[Christopher]

In quantity of software sold, yes. Especially since they take into account smart phone digital software into their equation.

In net profit of software sold, no. Hard media is still where the most profit is located.

What the digital market has allowed at this time is for smaller, but not Indie, development companies to produce lower production cost games and distribute them on a wide number of platforms.

[paradigmfellow]

No it will not overtake it.

[theonlylolking]

It WILL over take it but not soon. I say in 5-10 years maybe more most stuff wont be bought at retail.

[JsonHenry]

I've purchased nothing but digital products on my PC for over a year now. For me it has already overtaken physical media.

And as far as my consoles go I almost never buy a game for them, I only rent. Actually, the ONLY games I buy for the consoles are PSN/XLArcade games because I can't rent them. And again, those titles are digital as well.

It will happen.

[hoops]

They said the same thing of MP3's and CD's........

[Mr Tretton]

CD sales HAVE plummeted and MP3s skyrocketed

[paradigmfellow]

I only buy physical games. The day that physical games are gone is the day I will stop being a gamer.

[Morbius420]

Me too except I'll still play games just not new ones.

[Stealth20k]

lol no it will not espcially when more that 75 percent of these comapnies revenue is physical

and really what does this guy know?

[Ares84PS3]

Sadly, eventually it will happen. But it will be many years. Internet speeds have to be much faster. Storage space have to be in the hundreds of TB.

That day, when every console will have DLC only games will be the day when you loose actuall ownership over your games.

[sp1deynut]

No. But it is obviously the most effective way to combat lost revenue from used game sales, so it will continue to be a mainstay in gaming. No matter how many used copies of games like COD, Borderlands, or Mass Effect are sold...of which ZERO $$ goes to the devs/publishers...the only way to continue enjoying your experience with those games is through retail DLC. I think Bethesda and Rockstar will finally catch on too, and no longer produce disc-based add-ons...at least not without 1-use codes, like Gearbox/2k did with Borderlands GOTY. I got a used copy of Fallout 3 GOTY at GameStop, installed the extra content, and returned it for a refund...then bought the original F3 used for only $15. By contrast, the DLC for Borderlands GOTY was all on the disc...but only accessible with the 1-use codes provided on a card.
My biggest fear is that ALL games will soon have 1-use codes, thus making used console games worthless, just like on PC.

[DanSolo]

lol I like that idea of getting the GOTY edition to get the content and then getting a refund... good thinking!

[ll_UNDERSCORE_ll]

Dont know about the rest of the world but here in toronto my internet provider (ROGERS MEDIA) charges certain fees if you download past a certain cap. My monthly plan is 60gb/month, around $2-3 extra amount per 2GB.
Yes, ROGERS has monopolized the market here, and Yes I hardly look at the bill every month knowing I can pay it no problem, and Yes I haven't shopped around for a better deal.
I just figure other companies will follow suite down the road to milk the consumer.
Plus most companies have cap limit/fees for smart phones because of "data plans".

[AlienFodder]

$2-3 per 2GB is pretty good if you consider that in Quebec, Videotron charges around $5 extra per GB. I don't know about Bell - which is the other big competitor here - but I'd say it's probably around the same...

[redsquad]

Not in my house... never.
No substitute for clicking open a box or flicking through an instruction manual for me.

[Karum]

Digital versions will not overtake retail until there is more of a financial incentive to do so.

Someone up there already mentioned ME2 on PSN...ridiculous.

Then you have Activision's pricing of Prototype on PSN and Ubisoft's pricing of the original Assassin's Creed, both games were recent additions to the EU PS Store.

Until the prices on that kind of platform can compete with the deals you get at retail, digital versions of full games will not overtake those that can be bought at brick and mortar shops or online from the likes of Amazon or Shopto.net

[TheObserver]

The US does not have the fastest and deepest internet penetration. Even Japan and Korea don't have full digital distribution and they are the top dog in internet speed. Good luck with that delusion. KTHXBYE

http://www.exbii.com/showth...

[GSpartan777]

I don't see it overtaking retail on the console anytime soon on the console. On the PC, it already has for most game, but that's because PC gaming has a lot of independent studios who are not able to pay everything needed to get their games in store. Games such as Sims and WoW, however, have proven to sell more at retail but they are the exceptions.

[Gza21]

The problem is when a great number of people want music they don't go and buy it at I tunes, they go download it free from sites that have open source sharing. I can see this being the same eventually with games. I hope not, but it seems obvious that is what will happen.

[gypsygib]

Not in Canada, the government just made some decision which allows ISPs to still impose small bandwith caps and high pay-per-gig fees.

I don't want to have to sit in starbucks all day downloading a 20 gig game in 3 years.

[Pandamobile]

I still save a ton of money buying digitally in Canada.

No sales tax on Steam, cheaper than retail versions to begin with. I usually save about $10-15 every time I buy a newish game on Steam rather than going to a store.

[VenomProject]

Retail will never die.

Hard copies > digital copies any day of the week.

[bozebo]

What I have noticed is that digital games take longer to drop in price after launch. If black ops was £25 I would have bought it by now, but it's going to stay full price until the next cod comes out.

Also, quite recently I noticed that both GTA1 and GTA2 were £20 on steam (individually!)... I don't think they are that overpriced anymore lol.

[Ducky]

BC2's digital prices dropped like a brick though. It was below $20 by the end of summer (August/September)

It depends on the publisher since they decide the prices.

I've never seen GTA/GTA2 being offered individually on steam. They're usually only available as a package and they're only included as a bonus since I believe the two games are made free by Rockstar anyways as part of their 'Rockstar Classics' volumes.
http://www.rockstargames.co...

[bozebo]

Who cares if it's the publisher who chooses the prices? I wasn't trying to make a bash at steam, just pointing out some quirks.

And yeah I knew 1 & 2 were free on rockstar's site. Doesn't change the fact that they are on steam for £20 each..... (go search steam for grand theft auto duh, they are on there individually)

Not quite sure why I get disagrees for simply stating some obvious facts...

[Led-Zeppelin]

Lets pray they are wrong.

[hellzsupernova]

it depends on the pricing i don't see why dowloaded games should be more expensive or even the same price once you take away the disk the case the manuals the labour etc it should be at least 10dollars cheaper!

[gcolley]

it is called a monopoly. nothing to do with the cost to create, it has to do with supply, demand and competition