Gamers shun stores for downloads

To expand on what I said about retailers not stocking PC games because they can't sell them second hand: The entire console market on the high street is based on used sales now, which is why publishers are doing their best to lock off portions of games as DLC which can't be sold second hand. Essentially the specialist high street retailers have become specialist game pawn shops.

With a console game they can sell the same copy over and over again, each time making a large profit, none of which goes to the developer or publisher, but a PC game can normally only be sold once due to DRM. So it's no wonder that PC games have declined at retail, as they're no-where near as profitable in the completely dysfunctional market the retailers have created.

I get really annoyed now when a game I want to buy is not available digitally or online because one of the retailers that's doing their best to kill off PC gaming pays for an exclusive launch.
 
I own a few Steam -only games, mostly when bought for <£5 in a sale. I just prefer not being locked in so much with a physical copy (not easy anymore though!).

Does the BBC report count online physical sales too? I rarely buy my boxed games on the High St as availability and price are pap.
 
On the topic of Steam shutting down and losing all access to your games.
I did a bit of research on this, the TOS says they have no need to offer you a service, but Gabe himself has said that Valve would likely remove the DRM system on their downloads so you could access all your content offline.

The difference would be that you would never log onto Steam again or have the ability to download them (But you could still use the Steam client to manage them, in Offline mode).

I don't think anyone would want millions of angry nerds baring down on them if they simply shut up shop without doing something. Especially when there is no additional cost to them.
 
I like downloading now as it means i can pay for it download it and in a couple of hours time I can play all without having to go to town. Also steams platform is very good. Ingame chat, friends list etc.

Also my game stores are appauling.
 
Works the other way for me. If my whole collection of games was just a bit of software with 0 feel of ownership (in my opinion) all dependant on a company running a service in order to retrieve it (if not backed up) then that depresses me. It feels more like renting than purchasing - not to say I refuse to use download services but I generally look for a hard copy first.
Click to expand...

Ye me too I have to say :)

Interesting. I for one have never understood all the fuss about thse online stores. Perhaps Ive been looking for games at the wrong times but most of the time when i check - I can get the game boxed for cheaper on Amazon.

I realize a crate full of games is a hassle (although i agree its kinda cool cuz you visually SEE where your moneys gone) but in the back of my mind is always the worry that if I do start buying downloads only instead of boxed what happens when the download company goes south or somethin?
 
I just buy whatever version is cheaper :o

F1 2010 was £19 for a pre-order physical copy so i got in a box

Dirt 2 i found for like £6 for a digital copy so i got that.

It doesnt bother me either way to be honest.
 
There was also the comment that the information didn't take into account the free-to-play games on social networks or F2P MMOs, but would be interesting to see other takes on this data since it's a slightly old story from last week (didn't see a thread on it using search).

Personally most of my games have bought online in the last few years and more so from Steam, then a couple from battle.net. I went to digital sales as most of the retail boxes had no more than a DVD and a quick-start manual with the rest of it on PDF format so I didn't see the need to buy retail (or box from online store).

In future I'll probably go for buying downloads with PC games over retail since it's more convenient especially with fast broadband access these days.
 
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