EA Exec Predicts the Looming End of Retail Game Sales

[Andy Chalk]

EA Exec Predicts the Looming End of Retail Game Sales

EA Games Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund says the fork will be stuck in retail videogame sales in less than ten years.

The decline and fall of retail game sales isn't a question of "if" at this point, but of "when." Digital game sales are skyrocketing, while retail numbers are in a slow but steady decline. And while the big brick-and-mortar sellers struggle to figure out what they can do to maintain some degree of relevance in the industry, the writing is on the wall: retail is a spent force.

"I think it's going to be sooner than people think. I think it's going to be sooner than ten years," EA Games Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund told CVG. "That's my personal opinion, and might not be what EA thinks."

In fact, Soderlund said that the majority of EA's revenues still come from retail and that it remains a viable business model. But while he still has a preference for the physical, he acknowledged that he's not representative of the "new generation of gamers," and said that game companies that fail to adapt to changes in the industry risk becoming irrelevant.

"I look at it as evolution. Looking back five years and looking at today, there is such a vast difference to how I consume entertainment and how I connect with people. We just have to embrace these changes rather than be afraid of them. I think some people are so surprised by the changes that are happening that they become afraid of it," he said. "They try to stick to what they know and that's the danger. If you don't adapt you become irrelevant. I absolutely believe that's the case."

I share Soderlund's appreciation for the physical side of videogames, but I'm a little more reluctant to predict that retail Ragnarok is quite so close. The end of retail is dependent first and foremost upon the existence of an infrastructure that can support alternative delivery methods, and while some people access to that, plenty of others do not. Is ten years enough time to put that kind of far-reaching, high-bandwidth network in place? If it's not, then I suspect retail will be around for a little longer than he thinks.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/364064/interviews/eas-soderlund-adapt-or-become-irrelevant/?page=1#top_banner]


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[Absolutionis]

EA really needs to stop using this as a talking point. It seems every week, EA uses "digital sales will eventually take over physical boxes" as a talking point to distract from the fact that their stocks have fallen tremendously.

EA is not looking out for the future. The stockholders are concerned whether the company will survive into the future.

Digital sales are an inevitability, and when that time comes, developers will sell directly to consumers and publishers such as EA will have become obsolete.

The future is what EA is talking about all the time, yes. It's just that they fail to understand the future has no place for EA.

 

[Rednog]

Digital sales are an inevitability, and when that time comes, developers will sell directly to consumers and publishers such as EA will have become obsolete.

The future is what EA is talking about all the time, yes. It's just that they fail to understand the future has no place for EA.

I don't think you fully understand all of the aspects of what a publisher does.
If you did you would know that a publisher's job doesn't only entail printing and shipping out retail copies. Seriously why would publisher like EA have so much flack from the public if that was all that they did?

 

[BrotherRool]

I think high level broadband will easily be spread far enough in 10 years to make retail game sales irrelevant. Remember that gamers are naturally more inclined to be in high tech regions, and actually, if even a whole 5% still didn't have broadband access, well that would still make high street retail pretty irrelevant. It will take longer for online shopping to become irrelevant but we're rapidly approaching that day.

Apart from anything, indie games are driving innovation and are completely digital, pushing the high end of the market into digital shopping, at the same time casual games are also entirely digital so the low end of the markets also going to be brought up on digital. And the middle will be consumed. It might take a while to get CoD of the shelves, but game specific retail is dying as we speak. Game took a big hit this year, Blockbuster is dead and the rest seem to be struggling and are trying to find their place with silly things, like selling online gift vouchers. Maybe the top 20-30 games a year will be in the general stores for 10 years to come but everything beneath that is going to be deadweight.

 

[FalloutJack]

Phyisical media will always have a place. Like everything else, it's too big too just falter like that.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Companies keep going on about how new and used sales are dying, but then I look at CeX, the amount of trade that goes through my local one daily is ridiculous, it's what keeps many games going years after they're released.

 

[Space Jawa]

Considering how this comes out less than a week after the fall of OnLive, I think it's safe to discount this prediction as nothing more than a bunch of hot air.

 

[Tanis]

And EA WANTS this.

When gaming become 'digital only' all gamers will be able to do is RENT the games.

This will screw us over more then any other thing.

 

[Triaed]

And it is regional. Just because it may happen in the US (that bastion of technology and freedom) does not mean it will happen in other places.

 

[DaxStrife]

I buy almost every game digitally now; I can't even remember the last time I set foot in a retail store for a game... but then again I play on the PC, so the market is rather skewed in favor of digital over retail. So yes, I wouldn't mind seeing the industry go digital, but I'd like to see developers still putting out physical copies, maybe as pre-orders or special editions for the hard-core fans?

 

[Ken Sapp]

Retail distribution is as dead/dying as PC gaming.

Wait a minute.... the vast majority of my gaming time is on the PC....

 

[Frostbyte666]

I've bought a mixture of both digital and retail and to be honest I much prefer retail.
Reasons for retail are unless it's a steam sale retail is cheaper (especially with amazon), I have a physical disc and if drm servers are shut off I could download a crack to actually play the game I've paid for (excluding purely multiplayer games from this). I also like having a nice physical collection and on the older games having the manuals. (I still read that big old starcraft tome from time to time).
Reasons for digital would be steam sales, getting older games to play on modern machines (bless you gog) and convenience to acquire some games that are either unobtainable by retail or horrendously expensive as a physical copy.

Frankly EA trying to be digital only fills me with dread because the company seems more like the type to hold your game collection to ransom and if the toll isn't paid they'll wipe it out. I will weep for my once loved hobby if it does go purely digital because there will be more steam knock-offs, 1 for each developer and we'd probably need 10 of them at least to play our entire games collection and there will probably be membership fees just to access the service after all it's their digital distribtion service or no game.

I'm stopping here because I'm starting to rant now and am sleep deprived

 

[octafish]

I can see online shopping lasting longer than ten years if enough people remain outside of high speed broadband to make it worthwhile. That is a big if. High Street Retail is gone, the only thing keeping them alive is ripping off their customers with second hand sales.

 

[cerebus23]

EA already wiped out our games once if you bought any of their old DD service they were all gone, when origin came out and them you had to deal with customer "service" tell you prove you owned the game, well i bought it years ago...dont matter.

oh but i could see the games on my profile on the EA site as purchased from EA, but that was too obvious for EA make me do all the work. think i told them to go F themselves at that point uninstalled origin and swore never to deal with it again.

and durrr yes EA, microsoft and sony want retailers gone, moar profit for them.

 

[Baldur Moon]

I certainly hope not. My data cap barely allows dlc let alone a full fledged game.