Two major things happened this week that have left me feeling like a certain paradigm in games is shifting. First, there were the debate-sparking and frankly worrying comments from Ubisoft’s Director of Subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, about how he envisions a future for the industry where ‘gamers get comfortable with the idea of not owning their games’-an unappealing thought that our Matty OD has already dissected for us earlier this week.
But that combined with a pretty significant news story here in the UK that GAME (formerly Electronics Boutique, for you Stateside readers), basically the country’s only remaining franchised games store at this point, is ceasing its long-running trade-in service.
Game On, Game Off
Now, clearly video games have been moving from the physical to the digital realm steadily for about 20 years now (if you choose, like I do, to pinpoint Valve’s launch of Steam with Half-Life 2 in 2004 as a starting point for the transition), but the symbolism of these two recent events feels too powerful to ignore.
On the one hand, you have a corporate figure blithely talking about the idea of game ownership (physical or digital) as something soon to become outmoded like the floppy drive, with subscription-based gaming being some kind of ideal vision for the future (shudder). On the other, we have the ultimate representation of game ownership-the idea that at any point you can take your physically owned game and barter it away to get a new game-being shut down by the leading games outlet in the UK (along with said outlet talking about new revenue avenues it wants to explore, clearly seeing that physical games alone aren’t going to sustain it for long).
Yes, folks, whether or not Tremblay’s dystopian corporate vision for the future of gaming ever comes to pass (I for one am hopeful that it won’t), the fact that it’s even being floated one makes it clear is that these are the endtimes for physical game ownership at any mass scale. Sony and Microsoft already have one foot in this realm with the ‘Digital Only’ console variants, and business-wise you have to imagine that they’re rubbing their hands gleefully at a future where they can entirely dictate game prices through their digital stores rather than let high street or online retailers take their cuts. Granted, if just one console manufacturer were to go digital-only, there’d be fallout, and a massive feature advantage for its rivals. But if they wereallto do it? What’s to stop ‘em?
As it happens I’m a fan of digital game libraries on PC (where, unlike on console, you can buy Steam keys at competitive prices from dozens of legitimate retailers), and even enjoy side-helpings of stuff like cloud gaming and subscriptions in the form of Game Pass. As a predominantly PC player, I haven’t had a disc drive for ages, and don’t remember when I last bought a physical game. And yet, I can’t help but feel a bit wistful for the good times we had.
A bit like with Blockbuster Video – with its bright lights, the endless game and video cases staring up at you invitingly, the pre-popped popcorn – game retailers used to be the happiest and safest physical place on the high street for me: the new releases, the second-hand bins, thePS1 Platinum collectionor Sold Out collections, offering solid or undiscovered games at excellent prices.
Once upon a time, I remember you could even have a little bit of a haggle when trading in games.
Once upon a time, I remember you could even have a little bit of a haggle when trading in games. Sure, the trade-in values were terrible anyway for the customer, but it was still satisfying when I managed to eke out a few extra pounds from the store so that I could afford a shiny new N64 game in exchange for my seven old ones. The point is: it was bartering in a properly franchised high street outlet, like Skyrim but your skill level is still at Novice so you get the worst rates. This stuff was still perfectly doable 20, 25 years ago (God, I’m old), and it taught little ol’ me not only about haggling (in Elder Scrolls-speak, I’m pretty sure I upgraded to Journeyman level by the time they brought in barcodes to solidify trade-in prices), but that my games wereworthsomething!
With GAME closing its trade-in service, we’re left with CEX here in the UK (as well as a dwindling number of indie stores). Even though I have a soft spot for CEX, it does feel an awful lot like a graveyard for dead games and DVDs, often filled with desperate-looking people who look like they’re pawn off their collections of decade-plus-old EA Sports titles-FIFA 12, Madden ’09, and the like-for a few quid so that they can pay their extortionate heating bills this winter. Last time I went to get rid of an old Xbox 360 that came into my hands from an ex-housemate, a man got into an altercation with the staff there because a phone he tried trading in had been registered as stolen. The belligerent way in which he responded seemed to all but confirm what their systems had uncovered.
Farewell To Physical
From what I gather, CEX is actually doing pretty well for itself, but that success feels directly tied to its status as a scrapyard for physical games and other ancient media; a stark contrast to the glossy, inviting hub for games GAME used to be, where gamers would gather around the latest games console in the corner of the store, always with the screen placed at an uncomfortably high angle presumably to prevent kids from hogging it (not that I ever let a little neckular discomfort deter me).
So yes, the death of physical games media on a mass scale has been a long time coming and recent events remind us that it’s fast approaching. But we had some good times, didn’t we? Now, it’s time for us consumers to gather ourselves and look to the future to the next battle, because while gaming subscriptions are all well and good, the prospect of them outmoding actual ownership is a terrifying thought.
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