Online gaming has become an integral part of our lives. Whether you game on a console, a high-end PC gaming rig or smartphone device, there’s a good chance you play at least one game online. In recent months, games like Fortnite and PUBG have been the most popular with gamers, as both titles compete to attract new players on all major platforms. As digital titles gain in popularity, the chances of them replacing physical media is quite high.
If this happens, what will the gaming landscape look like when the industry finally transitions to an online-only platform? How will it affect gamers? As it stands, there is still a large number of consumers who prefer physical copies over digital media. Will this inevitable shift into a digital eco-system isolate these people, or will they eventually conform? The situation itself is very difficult to gauge.
Physical releases may still have a chance of surviving, thanks to companies like Limited Run Games. Every digital to physical release they have produced up til this point (including the 25th Anniversary of Night Trap) have sold out in days, if not in hours. It’s pretty obvious by their success as a company that LRG has tapped into a market that is starving for physical releases.
There is also the question of manufacturing. For the time being, Sony and Nintendo both assist LRG in the production of their releases. If the industry were to transition to an all-digital, online platform, will companies like LRG have to find 3rd party alternatives to assist in the production of their releases, and will this affect the bottomline as far as the consumer is concerned? Let’s hope not; the consumer likes to save money as much as possible.
With that said, we can all agree that online gaming is here to stay; there’s no doubt about it. But in hindsight, having access to an online environment used to be an option and not a necessity for most gamers. As technology continues to advance, the need for an online ecosystem – which is capable of delivering larger, more robust content – has suddenly become a necessity and not a luxury. This is in direct correlatoin with recent consumer demands for 4k graphics; high-resolution textures; and better performance in their games.
The situation is a double-edge sword for everyone involved. As it stands right now, physical media is falling behind on what it can deliver for storage. (The prices are not always reasonable either.) If physical media can somehow stay current with larger storage options (and more reasonable prices), it may have a chance of surviving. For those of us who enjoy physical copies, let’s hope this happens.
