Home Gaming EA doesn’t believe we’ll see disc-free console any time soon

EA doesn’t believe we’ll see disc-free console any time soon

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Though most games are still sold through physical brick-and-mortar stores or online retailers, it’s a situation that’s changing. According to some publishers, we’ll see a shift to a completely digital future within the next few years.

“I think over the long-term, it will be 100% [digital],” Take-Two Interactive president Karl Slatoff said at the Credit Suisse 21st Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (via GI.Biz). “I just can’t predict whether that’s five years, 10 years, or 20 years. It’s probably less than 20 and maybe more than five, but I think it ultimately gets there. That’s the zeitgeist. Things are moving in that direction.

“Why I think it’s a little quicker than people imagined is honestly, Sony and Microsoft have done a really nice job with their services. You’ve got more people on Xbox Live, more people on PSN, and it helps. The friction is going away at a quicker rate because these platforms have been really well developed, and the consumers love it.”

While EA also sees a future in digital, they don’t believe that disc-based consoles will be disappearing anytime soon.

“Consoles and disc drives probably stay around for a long period of time,” Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen said, speaking at a Nasdaq event (via Gamespot). “I think it’s the consumer deciding what’s the easiest way for them to buy a game. And it may mean they no longer have a store down the street from them so they decide to buy it [digitally] maybe it’s easier for them to do.”

Jorgensen said that on consoles, about a third of their game sales are done digitally, but that the number is set to increase. On PC, that number is closer to 90 percent, but that’s the nature of that platform, and the general lack of Blu-Ray drives.

While I do think we’ll see an all-digital future, until bandwidth is fast and cheap enough, you’ll still find most local consumers on console opting for physical media.

Last Updated: December 6, 2017

9 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    December 6, 2017 at 14:11

  2. Kromas Ryder

    December 6, 2017 at 14:34

    My PC has been disc free since 2013. I have to occasionally network my laptops drive for stupid drivers though. But even that is super rare.

    Reply

  3. Original Heretic

    December 6, 2017 at 14:42

    As if we can trust what EA thinks or says….

    Let’s just give them the Spaceballs salute, without any of the finger wagging at the end.

    Reply

  4. Original Heretic

    December 6, 2017 at 14:45

    Reading an articles makes we wanna send fan mail to CDPR.

    Help us, CDPR, Youareourlasthope. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5340e2961deff72aa8974bffca65ec44cac763cb61060a2c6ae0b7b6c37ea09c.jpg

    Reply

  5. Guz

    December 6, 2017 at 15:12

    The only problem is that is SA we battle with digital as it just takes to long to download the games unless you pay an arm and a leg for fiber or something like that, 1 week to download a 100 Gig game….. iesh

    Reply

    • Original Heretic

      December 6, 2017 at 15:52

      Yes, they take long to download. But damn, it’s just so convenient!
      I picked up Evil Within 2 on Monday and I have yet to play it. Because it means I have to get up off the chair, take the disc out the box, put the disc in the machine, put the box somewhere safe, go back to the chair….
      That’s just effort….

      Reply

      • Guz

        December 6, 2017 at 15:59

        also disks getting scratched,got to watch out for that. I remember years ago a friend borrowed my red alert 2 disk(each faction got a disk) and it came back super scratched and it wouldn’t read any more,. now with digital you can just re-download 🙂

        Reply

        • Original Heretic

          December 6, 2017 at 16:01

          Scratched discs? Use Brasso. That shit works.

          And the wonder of digital was reinforced for me recently as well. House broken into, PS4 and all my disc games stolen.
          So my push to digital is now also to prevent anything like that happening again.

          Reply

  6. RinceThis

    December 6, 2017 at 15:19

    I wonder if they only sell a 1/3 because people, like OvG want games that might work on day one if you don’t have an internet connection…

    Reply

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