New data shows that physical software dollar sales dipped to an all-time July low of $85 million in the US — the worst total since tracking began in 1995.
I would consider Steam a special case compared to Sony or Microsoft trying to discontinue the production of physical games.
For one, the PC physical market was a mess of DRM solutions. Ones that either required middleware to be running on your PC like SecuROM or Denuvo, only allowed a limited number of installations before voiding the CD key, or required the disc inserted at all times, or a combination of all 3.
So Steam was a welcome disruption, it also didn’t outright replace big box software as a means of distributing PC games, it just phased out naturally. And there is nothing preventing a company from releasing a physical big box edition of any of their games on PC.
But with Sony ending production of discs, even people who want to release their games on disc, won’t be able to in the future
Kind of ironic how people here love steam but hate digital gaming. I just like the convenience of having my games in 1 spot.
I would consider Steam a special case compared to Sony or Microsoft trying to discontinue the production of physical games.
For one, the PC physical market was a mess of DRM solutions. Ones that either required middleware to be running on your PC like SecuROM or Denuvo, only allowed a limited number of installations before voiding the CD key, or required the disc inserted at all times, or a combination of all 3.
So Steam was a welcome disruption, it also didn’t outright replace big box software as a means of distributing PC games, it just phased out naturally. And there is nothing preventing a company from releasing a physical big box edition of any of their games on PC.
But with Sony ending production of discs, even people who want to release their games on disc, won’t be able to in the future
Not at all ironic considering Steam is competitive, offers great sales and allows code to be purchased elsewhere and redeemed on their service.