GameStop Wants to End Digital Bundles in Its Stores

[StewShearerOld]

GameStop Wants to End Digital Bundles in Its Stores

GameStop executives plan to bring more bundles with physical games to its stores in the future.

Bundles are, understandably, one of gamers' favorite ways of buying new hardware. Generally packaged with discounted software, they basically guarantee that you'll have something ready to play when you get your shiny new console home. With digital games becoming more and more prominent however, it's increasingly becoming the norm for bundles to come with download codes as opposed to a physical disc. If a recent conference call is any indicator however, this is a practice that some retailers intend to push back against.

<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/gamestop>GameStop executives, speaking <a href=https://s.t.st/media/xtranscript/2015/Q3/13269885.pdf>in the aforementioned earnings call, have revealed the company's intention to alter the way it sells <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/bundles>bundles. Addressing the issue, COO Tony Bartel stated that the recent trend toward "packed in" digital titles runs contrary to GameStop's "preference" that "we have physical discs." Bartel would go on to say that consumers can "anticipate that at GameStop you will see more physical bundles from third parties as opposed to digital bundles." CEO Paul Raines further commented that "consumers prefer those physical bundles" and cited the value a disc has for things like "the trade-in program at GameStop" as being one of the reasons why.

Speaking personally, I'm kind of inclined to agree. Don't get me wrong, it's obvious why GameStop's higher-ups want physical games to be the standard for their bundles. The company makes much more money off of its trade-in program than from almost anything else. Bundles packaged with digital titles, in turn, means that customers have fewer games they can trade-in to GameStop. It's just bad business for the company to promote them. Even if GameStop's interest is self-motivated though, gamers technically still do get more out of disc-based bundles, so who are we to complain if that's what the company wants to offer us. What do you guys think? Is this a silly move on GameStop's part or are you with them in their preference for physical titles?
Source: <a href=https://s.t.st/media/xtranscript/2015/Q3/13269885.pdf>The Street


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[Kajin]

I think it's the dying throes of a company designed to thrive in a bygone era. The only discs I own for any game I play are all for my consoles, and I don't have an eighth of the number of physical game copies for them as I do digital game copies at places like Steam and GOG or bought direct from the company itself. What do you even GET from a physical copy, anyway? A box that takes up space? A manual that offers you nothing you couldn't learn online or in the game itself? A disc that can get scratched or bent, rendering your game unplayable?

Bah, I say.

 

[ecoho]

I think it's the dying throes of a company designed to thrive in a bygone era. The only discs I own for any game I play are all for my consoles, and I don't have an eighth of the number of physical game copies for them as I do digital game copies at places like Steam and GOG or bought direct from the company itself. What do you even GET from a physical copy, anyway? A box that takes up space? A manual that offers you nothing you couldn't learn online or in the game itself? A disc that can get scratched or bent, rendering your game unplayable?

Bah, I say.

you do realize that the pc gaming market while large is by far dwarfed by consoles right? (don't worry your pc is by far more powerful

OT: yeah good idea from them and they'll end up better off for it.

 

[Rad Party God]

OH NOES!, digital games don't come in physical copies!, we REALLY need that trade in money!

 

[Kajin]

you do realize that the pc gaming market while large is by far dwarfed by consoles right? (don't worry your pc is by far more powerful

Without knowing exact numbers, I'd be willing to call bullshit on that. Everyone I know that has a console possesses, at most, maybe a dozen physical game copies. When I still used my PS3, I had more digitally downloaded copies of games than I did physical copies and the console market now is even more attuned to digital distribution than it's ever been. With the rise of independent developers that don't even bother to sell physical copies of games (predominantly for PC, but the current console generation is dabbling in that as well), I'd be willing to bet digitally distributed games outnumber physical copies of games at least two to one. If you told me they outnumbered physical copies by twenty to one, I'd believe that without doubt.

The market is shifting quickly and devastatingly away from a physical one to a digital one, and the trend will continue for years to come. It won't stop. It'll never stop. Physical media is just too cumbersome and annoying. GameStop and its ilk are a dying breed. They won't be around much longer unless they change their business practices.

 

[Ylla]

you do realize that the pc gaming market while large is by far dwarfed by consoles right? (don't worry your pc is by far more powerful

OT: yeah good idea from them and they'll end up better off for it.

Not actually:
https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/global-games-market-2015/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/27/console-pc-gaming-market-estimated-to-earn-more-than-mobile-in-2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2014/04/28/as-global-pc-game-revenue-surpasses-consoles-how-long-should-console-makers-keep-fighting/
http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/83972-pc-games-sales-eclipse-value-console-games-sales-2016/

The PC gaming market isnt just slightly bigger than both Sony and MS consoles together, it also earns more money than the mobile market.

 

[Lightspeaker]

On the one hand I find it extremely distasteful exactly WHY they want to make this change.

On the other hand...I'm actually all for this mentality of having actual games come with the console, not download codes (one of the things that irritated me a bit about my vita was the fact it only came with download codes.. I vastly prefer having a physical copy of the game to a digital one. I rarely buy a digital version of something if I can get a boxed copy unless it is dramatically cheaper (generally steam sales in that regard).

 

[Sniper Team 4]

While we can all agree GameStop isn't doing this to be a shining paragon of justice or anything, I do find myself agree with the idea of physical copies. For one thing, downloading a game to a console takes up a LOT of space. If I had to download every single game that I own for my consoles, I would not have enough room I believe.

But, more important to me, I like having the physical disc. I like owning the game, and the feeling that comes when I hold it in my hand. I get a sense of pride when I look at all my Final Fantasy games, or Suikoden games, just lined up on the shelves. It's a sense of, "Yeah, these are mine. I own these," that comes from being a collector I think.

It's the same thing with preferring an actual book to an ebook I think.

 

[AgentCooper]

you do realize that the pc gaming market while large is by far dwarfed by consoles right? (don't worry your pc is by far more powerful

Without knowing exact numbers, I'd be willing to call bullshit on that. Everyone I know that has a console possesses, at most, maybe a dozen physical game copies. When I still used my PS3, I had more digitally downloaded copies of games than I did physical copies and the console market now is even more attuned to digital distribution than it's ever been. With the rise of independent developers that don't even bother to sell physical copies of games (predominantly for PC, but the current console generation is dabbling in that as well), I'd be willing to bet digitally distributed games outnumber physical copies of games at least two to one. If you told me they outnumbered physical copies by twenty to one, I'd believe that without doubt.

The market is shifting quickly and devastatingly away from a physical one to a digital one, and the trend will continue for years to come. It won't stop. It'll never stop. Physical media is just too cumbersome and annoying. GameStop and its ilk are a dying breed. They won't be around much longer unless they change their business practices.

It's more about the Retro side of it. Retro game collecting is a HUGE market at the moment and it's only considered to be on the console side of gaming. Retro collecting physical PC games is not huge at all. People want original copies of games they can trade and sell at market values and that is never changing. This push to end physical games is all bullshit and I would like for people to have options. Digital music downloads did not kill CD's and vinyl of all things made a come back.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Personally, and I know I'm in the minority on this, but I prefer physical copies of my games because I enjoy lending and trading them with friends. GameStop is a company that is slowly finding itself on the losing side of this battle, however, and in ten years time we won't be seeing them any more. And they know it. That's why if you walk into any GameStop nowadays you'll see that they take trade-ins on phones, tablets, and other things. Hell, they even absorbed Cricket and ThinkGeek in order to keep more physical merchandise in their stores.

I much prefer places like BlockBuster and GameStop stay open, but I know that's not the direction things are headed if growing trends are anything to go off of. I mean, this is a generation of console gaming where people are more willing to buy digital because the THOUGHT of getting up and having to change out their disc perturbs them.

 

[Kajin]

-snip-

Gonna be honest. Not really sure what you're getting at. Retro gaming has nothing at all to do with the future of gaming. I doubt physical media will ever truly go away, but as the years go on it'll eventually shrink to only a fraction of what digital media will eventually become. Especially now with the rise of independent game developers overshadowing AAA publishers. I don't think I've EVER seen an indie game that was being sold on a disc. Minecraft was, but that was only after it went on to become so profitable that it could no longer be thought of as indie at all.

 

[AgentCooper]

-snip-

Gonna be honest. Not really sure what you're getting at. Retro gaming has nothing at all to do with the future of gaming. I doubt physical media will ever truly go away, but as the years go on it'll eventually shrink to only a fraction of what digital media will eventually become. Especially now with the rise of independent game developers overshadowing AAA publishers. I don't think I've EVER seen an indie game that was being sold on a disc. Minecraft was, but that was only after it went on to become so profitable that it could no longer be thought of as indie at all.

Point was people will always want some kind of physical copy of something. Quite a few indie games are getting physical release now. Shovel Knight was announced some time ago with a soundtrack and the Ducktales remaster had a physical release. It does depend on who backs these things ultimately. These examples don't reflect a changing trend or anything. Its just that the collectors market is still huge deal to people. I think Physical Vs. Digital has a interesting balance to it. I just would like to see more choices honestly.

I apologize If I sounded hostile to you in any way.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I think it's the dying throes of a company designed to thrive in a bygone era. The only discs I own for any game I play are all for my consoles, and I don't have an eighth of the number of physical game copies for them as I do digital game copies at places like Steam and GOG or bought direct from the company itself. What do you even GET from a physical copy, anyway? A box that takes up space? A manual that offers you nothing you couldn't learn online or in the game itself? A disc that can get scratched or bent, rendering your game unplayable?

Bah, I say.

I do agree that GameStop doesn't have much time left, but I wouldn't say it's a bygone era... yet. There's still a large chunk of people that don't have internet speeds to make digital gaming more convenient vs buying a disc. What you get from a physical copy is VALUE from the ability to resell your game when you're done. Reselling games (not to GameStop, duh) makes console gaming rather cheap for me, I don't have to wait for sales or price drops for a game to cost me say $20, I can buy the game day 1 and end up spending $20 or less on the game. I don't buy games digitally on PSN unless the games are under $20 because it really makes no sense for me to do that. Also digital prices should be cheaper than physical copies because publishers WANT me to buy digital so I can't resell thereby allowing them to make more money on more copies sold; I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. Not to mention there's just lower costs with selling digital vs making all the discs and cases and shipping them all over the world.

 

[Eyes of Avo]

I understand why they want to do this...still doesn't change the fact that digital is the way of the future imo. I made the switch to pure digital this generation and it's so much better for me, since trade-ins were done out of a necessity when I didn't have a job. Now that I have a regular income I don't want to trade in any of my precious games!

 

[Gennadios]

As much as I don't really care for physical copies and going to Gamestop depresses me to no end, Digital still needs a competitor until the European Union can force the likes of Steam to offer trade ins and license selling.

 

[JemothSkarii]

As somebody who lives in Australia and is still held back by the wonderful thing known as a 'data cap', this is nice. I can't do too many digital games despite my Steam Library being huge. I have a PS4, and not only does that have limited hard drive space, downloading games for that would chew through said data like no tomorrow.

Yeah, physical copies and brick and mortar stores are dying, everyone sees that. But I like having a physical box I can put on a shelf, show people and lend. I also miss manuals that had things in them.

 

[Something Amyss]

I understand why they want to do this...still doesn't change the fact that digital is the way of the future imo.

I'm sure it is. Doesn't mean I have to like the idea of a publisher monopoly and games which can be taken away with the flick of a switch.

 

[major_chaos]

+1 for GS as far as I'm concerned. The longer the horrifying shitty all digital future is pushed back the better, and if GameStop can help in some small way good on them.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Ugh, I hate finding download codes in bundles. It is a dirty tactic to shave some pennies off the cost to produce a unit, with the simultaneous bonus of locking the game to one account. There are people who can't feasibly download games, making researching how the games are packaged in bundles a necessity for those people. It also blows when someone buys a system with barely any storage to hold the game and gave extra space for more. *cough* the fuckin' Wii U *cough* They won't even preload the games on the systems, negating the need for internet.

If they can get console manufacturers to stop being too cheap to put a super-inexpensive CD[footnote]I think modern handheld cartridges are cheaper than the old generations of carts, too.[/footnote] in their bundles, Gamestop will get some legit brownie points from me (not near enough to make me a regular customer, though). Although, I doubt GS has the power anymore to force the console makers to stop bundling download codes with systems. GS might as well just match the digital bundles as best as they can with deals of their own involving physical copies and new/used systems. I think they've already done something like that before.

I think I'm in an enemy mine situation with Gamestop. I don't like trading games in with them, but I do like having physical copies of games.

 

[Bobular]

I like this. I've had times when I've bought a digital game in a box (thinking it was an actual CD), got home to play it and had to download it overnight as it took hours to download. A physical copy gives quicker access to the game (minus the day 1 updates/DLC)