With gaming as a medium changing and evolving across the digital landscape, many questions are being raised about what the future looks like for the industry. The release of landmark consoles that come without disc drives at all obviously shows that producers have their hearts set on a more exclusively digital age (allowing them to make more money due to the lack of resales that can come with physical games).
Still, is there a benefit to this digital route? In many ways, you might already be immersing yourself in that kind of future elsewhere with your gaming habits.
Mobile and PC Downloads
When it comes to these platforms, you’re likely dealing in digital downloads already. Even when it comes to PC gaming, which often can house physical games, that hasn’t been the norm for many years, with clients like Steam offering players a digital storefront that’s ultimately more convenient.
The same is true with mobile gaming – whichever app store you use becoming the relevant storefront in this situation. Mobile gaming (and even PC gaming with certain browser games) is in a unique position where not all games need to be downloaded, such as games or online casinos.
What is Lost?
It’s worth examining why this is even a debate at all. Why are people bothered that the disc drive is gone?
Depending on the type of digital console that is being discussed, there’s a question of whether an internet connection is necessary and for how long. Most of the time you’re going to need one to download the game in the first place, which can be difficult for those who live in places with a poor connection.
Furthermore, at what point do you even own the game at all? With a digital copy, your ownership could be electronically revoked at any time (theoretically), whereas a physical game is yours to keep, lend and sell on, if you like. All of those benefits are gone with a purely digital route, however.
The Benefits
If you, the consumer, are presented with a choice between whether you’d want a console that can play physical discs or one that is locked to digital downloads, the preference can seem obvious. That’s something that those behind these consoles are aware of as well, leading to the digital options being cheaper (which makes sense due to the lower cost of development).
The benefits are the benefits of digital games in general, namely, accessibility. So long as you have a stable internet connection, you’re able to buy and immediately start playing the digital games that you buy, which means that long waits for games to be delivered aren’t an issue. Furthermore, damage to the disc itself could stop you from playing the game at all when it comes to physical copies – a problem that will never happen with a digital download.
It’s worth knowing what you can expect from the route of digital-only gaming, not only so that you can prepare for it but also so that you know why and what the benefits are.
