My gf works for a video game publisher. They had been cutting their staff related to making physical boxes and collectors editions for the past several years in the belief that everything was going digital.
She was telling me earlier the trend was reversing and now customers are showing more of a bias towards physical purchases, so the company is starting to hire more people back to that side and froze hiring on the digital side.
Just wanted to let people in here know since gamers are reacting against the "you vill own nothing and you vill be happy" industry with their wallets and the publishers are starting to notice.
It won't change the digital renting though. They still won't be able to enjoy the game without verifying that they are allowed to play it by by asking the developers/publishers and/or steamDRM servers for permission when they install it.
This. Console games spend 3 hours downloading and installing the game the first time you put the disc in now. After that, the disc only has to be in the drive because the game checks and won't let you play if it's not there.
There's also a bunch that require online connectivity, even when you're not interacting with any online content.
True but, that can be bypassed via clever methods, particularly those that are known to sail...
what used to come in a game box
And you would actually use the map and the lore books to solve puzzles in game. It was a slight nod toward copy protection that increased immersion instead of shitting on the player.
Not surprised, most games anymore have less replay ability and the ability to resell a copy is always going to be king.
Sounds more like people with disposable income who want to show off a box for a game. When you've got boxes for Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 in a trilogy showing off what a superfan you are, it's definitely a cooler pic than a screenshot of Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 in a steam library.
If I had physical space taken up for every digital game I've got, I'd probably spend less over time so, there's always that.
I always suspected this was the case despite being told that "digital is the future".
Turns out people prefer to actually own their games and have a say over whether or not they get any updates. Personally, the delisting of Forza Motorsport 4 and the Project Gotham Racing games' DLC destroyed the merits of a live service library or marketplace for me.
I am glad that your company is investing in physical distribution and sees to be attracting much interest.
Would you like to share any links where we can find or support you guys?
Weird, almost like sudden and capricious DRM drove customers back toward media they have sole control over
It's why I keep finding myself purchasing things on GoG lately.
I used to. But they've gone completely woke, and I don't want to support that with money. I can still enjoy the gaming Scene though..through other channels.
This is welcome news. Thank you for the insight.
Cds can be found cheap, and if you rip them in the right format they even sound nicer than MP3s. A lot of times it's even cheaper than buying the albun digitally as well. I still buy CDs every now and again, and I use the files to listen to music on my phone. It's really not a outdated format, people are just too lazy to use it.
I always enjoyed physical. The extra large special edition was what I hated. You could get a Legolas bow and arrow set for one game, and all this extra stuff. It was sold for $10 at GameStop a few months later.