Xbox digital games have reportedly hit a 91% share over physical discs, making the future of physical look bleak.
OPINION: As Xbox Series X : Read more
OPINION: As Xbox Series X : Read more
The issue with physical media is that most games come with Day 1 patches or multiple updates that break game-breaking errors in the software that makes the disc nothing more than an offline installer before the patches are applied. It's not like before when you would buy an Xbox (original series) or PS2 game and the disc was all-inclusive of the finished product.
Thank you for this comment. You are perfectly correct. This is a subtle but critical difference that many people fail to recognize in physical media between music, movies and games.The issue with physical media is that most games come with Day 1 patches or multiple updates that break game-breaking errors in the software that makes the disc nothing more than an offline installer before the patches are applied. It's not like before when you would buy an Xbox (original series) or PS2 game and the disc was all-inclusive of the finished product.
While this helps to some extent, it does not address the inevitable patch two years post launch. Even games released four years ago get the occasional performance patch, or balancing etc.You will note that now more and more games are not released simultaneously digitally and physically. They generally come out digitally then physically, which has several advantages:
for example, the physical version of black myth wukong is only arriving now and they will probably announce the xbox digital and physical ps5 / xbox series version at the same time
- This addresses the problems you are talking about, because the physical version is printed after the day one patches and other patches
- The physical version is launched only if the digital version is a success, which minimizes risks
To a large extent, disk editions are just a form of keydisk DRM.The issue with physical media is that most games come with Day 1 patches or multiple updates that break game-breaking errors in the software that makes the disc nothing more than an offline installer before the patches are applied. It's not like before when you would buy an Xbox (original series) or PS2 game and the disc was all-inclusive of the finished product.
Books, blame the big multinational corporate publishers.I've always wondered why everything can't be as good as movies. Buy a disc, get a code for a digital copy, and through movies anywhere connect your entire owned library across every platform and storefront. I mean I know "why" (money), but still that's the standard to beat for me. I'd love it if my books and video games were the same. I could buy my physical copy, also get a code for a digital copy, and sync all my library across storefronts and platforms.