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.
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.