Sony studios president Shuhei Yoshida has said that PS4 will focus more than ever on digital downloads.
[PS4: All the news | All the facts | Every video of all the games | Official pictures | PS4 Specs]
"We're shifting our platform more and more to the digital side - PS4 will be similar to PS Vita in that every game will be available as a digital download, and some will also be available as a disc. The Witness will be a digital release and because of the flexibility of the digital distribution scheme, we can have more small games that might be free or available for a couple of dollars, or different services like free-to-play or subscription models."
Speaking on the topic of subscription services, Yoshida hinted that Sony may look at a tiered subscription model. "As more and more services and contents become available digitally, we'll have more of an option to create attractive packages. So hypothetically we can look at different models - like a cable TV company. We ould have gold, silver or platinum levels of membership, something like that."
Fresh details continue to emerge regarding the PlayStation 4 following its unveiling last week. SCEA CEO Jack Tretton confirmed at the weekend that PlayStation 4 retail games will not leap up in price compared to the current generation's typical price range.
Comments
40 comments so far...
Throttle74 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Lets hope they start getting a bit more realistic with the pricing, Im all into the idea for all games being able to be purchased and downloaded like i do with my PC but not at top end prices for a game with no packaging and retail needs or even a resale value.
The PlayStation store for example a game such as Ni No Kuni for the PS3 is £49.99 yet retails in online shops between £35-£40
I know the retailers have knocked it down from rrp but surely it should be £30 at the most to buy on PlayStation store in comparison as there's less cost in providing it and you cant resell it.
S-Smith on 25 Feb '13 said:
AND????? SONY????? PLEASE say - 'every PS4 title will have to work with the PSVita's Remote Play function on day 1' That would be cool:P
Squall5005 on 25 Feb '13 said:
I'm not rich enough to buy digital games from PSN.
filth87 on 25 Feb '13 said:
I prefer having the physical copy thanks, unless as the guys above have said, it's cheaper.
stealth on 25 Feb '13 said:
buying digital retail games is a rip off for about 10 reasons
TheLastNinja on 25 Feb '13 said:
why are they nearly always more cash than what u pay in store i am all for digital content lets be honest its the future but its a total rip off i thought the idea was to cut out the middle man i love buying games in store always have since the days of paying £12.50 for a full price game on c64 .ah great dayz.... i remember buying hammerfist (vivid image) respect to John Twiddy.. would love to see a remake of that...
TheLastNinja on 25 Feb '13 said:
why are they nearly always more cash than what u pay in store i am all for digital content lets be honest its the future but its a total rip off i thought the idea was to cut out the middle man i love buying games in store always have since the days of paying £12.50 for a full price game on c64 .ah great dayz.... i remember buying hammerfist (vivid image) respect to John Twiddy.. would love to see a remake of that...
Mark Hayhurst on 25 Feb '13 said:
Totally won't surprise me if at launch theres a cheaper model of the ps4 with no blu ray drive to encourage people onto digital.
moogiesboy on 25 Feb '13 said:
They have already stated that it's up to the developer again. Stupid move IMO. They never learn.
Squall5005 on 25 Feb '13 said:
It sucks because most PS3 games actually work fine remote play, but only if you hack your console. I have no idea why Sony won't just enable it. I made a post on the Playstation website forums and my post was instantly deleted. I've seen Ni No Kuni running beautifully on YouTube and I would kill to be able to play that in bed.
Sort it out Sony!
murph_77 on 25 Feb '13 said:
There still is no incentive to purchase online as they are way more expensive despite not having to manufacture the disc, manuals, leaflets, case and inlay card. Thanks but no thanks until the price reflects the lack of manufacturing to produce the game.
gobbybobby on 25 Feb '13 said:
They should alllow 3rd party stores, like Steam to launch and also sell PS4 games. Competition drive down the prices!
Stigweird85 on 25 Feb '13 said:
I support the ambition, for various reasons I am trying to have a mostly digital library but unfortunately Sony faces a major stumbling block. Prices.
Unless Sony goes against form and makes digital prices comparable to retail prices it will not reach it's fuil potential. I think that it is a safe assumption that while people don't mind paying a premium for convience, few would be willing to pay the sometimes 20% difference bewteen a retail and digital version of a game. A quick check shows Crysis 3 digital edition is £59.99 whereas a disk version is available new for just under 2/3 the price at £37.51
Sadly day and date digital titles will never go down in price for the same reason that the new consoles will not completely block used games(I say completely as I do believe that an extension of the online pass will happen eventually) no publisher or developer would completely destroy their retail partnership. The digital download market is growing but is far from being supported and an option everywhere and to undercut retail partners would potentially harm a lucrative segment of the market.
I hope this rambling made sense,
DAEDALUS79 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Digital games should cost 75% of the physical versions price, absolutely maximum. Publishers are just being ridiculously stupid/greedy with their current pricing.
Stigweird85 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Agreed on price but I don't think publishers have anything to do with choosing price point.
I don't mind paying a premium for convience but that Crysis markup is absolutely rediculous.
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
Based upon what lazy assumption should digital titles retail at less than a physical copy? The manufacturing and distribution costs of a physical copy could easily be less than the cost of maintaining the infrastructure to distribute a digital copy. Unless you have the relevant breakdown of profit margins for either set up you can't say it should be 25% cheaper.
DAEDALUS79 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Because regardless of the 'costs of manufacture', the publisher still gets a lot more money from the digital sale. I saw a breakdown of where the money goes from a retail purchase, and only a small percentage of each retail purchase actually goes to the publisher and game maker. Retail not only has production costs but it also has warehouse costs, distribution costs and other logistical costs. Not to mention that, the shops that sell the game arent paying anywhere near to £30/75% of the selling price for the games themselves. Digital distribution is not only a cheaper way to produce the games, but a larger chunk of the profit goes to the people making the game, hence why the price should be lower.
cupoftea on 25 Feb '13 said:
Better getting physical copy be a bit cheaper £40 for new title in shop £59 on psn store u do the math
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
I'm not saying that isn't the case Daedy, I'm just saying I have no proof either way.
Stigweird85 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Margin is up for debate but Digital versions should be significantly cheaper than actual versions. For three simple reasons:
1. No shop overheads(staff, building rental etc)
2. Lower logistical fees(no need to pay import duty on physical product nor does a digital copy need to be transported to/from warehouse to retailer
3. No physical product being made = less resources being used which should result in a lower cost to consumer
The only thing that a digital download adds to the potential cost is the Server maintaince and cost and this does not equate to the 30% markup for Crysis 3.
As I said in an earlier post, the reason for digital prices isn't just profiteering, both Sony and Microsoft need to place nice with retailers as the retail industry still contributes a massive source of income
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
@ Stig people keep giving examples of what costs are involved but not the actual figures. Why should anyone trust information if they aren't being given the full picture?
sonic_uk on 25 Feb '13 said:
But will every Ps4 title be available as a Physical product?
Gameoholic007 on 25 Feb '13 said:
I prefer to have physical media myself. Digital is cool, but I like it when I can take the game to a buddys house to play it. Im not really crazy about having to have a internet line just to play a videogame. I fear for the generation of gaming after the PS4 and next Xbox. =/
Stigweird85 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Fair enough anyone can spout facts and statistics without any real evidence to back them up, granted it is an assumption but it is a logical assumption. In my post while I didn't list actual figures I did give examples of actual costs involved. Another example of real vs digital
Real has a limited production run of x amount with x cost, whereas digital is only constrained by bandwidth costs.
I may be wrong but as far as I'm aware There is no major distribution costs added with a digital version of anything that would inflate costs as much as they are on both the PS Store on Xbox on demand(Halo 4 and X-Com sell at £49.99 but are readily available at half this cost from amazon) there is much more at play with digital prices than simple production and hosting costs.
Tekken._.PS3 on 25 Feb '13 said:
So, I can purchase Resident Evil 6 on the PlayStation store for 49.99, buy it in store for £25 -£35, or pre-order it on steam, where it comes with a full digital copy of the soundtrack, and art book, as well as a free copy of Resident Evil 5 and probably all 4 dlc modes too.
If the PS4Store is similar to steam with good prices and sales a lot, then I think they might kick-start the digital-download-becoming-what-everyone-does stage. I am assuming (perhaps in vain) that prices might be a little more fair for PS4, because I can't imagine dd sales are very high for them. But, it still won't be enough.
To be honest I hope it doesn't become the norm, or, that there's always the option to buy a physical disk game. Unfortunately, that's probably not how its going to work out...
cult on 25 Feb '13 said:
Day 1, I receive 2 PlayStation 4 consoles.
I go online to the store and buy Battlefield 4, I download and install it on both consoles.
Next gen game 2 @ £30 each.
Same goes for the £40 map pack, £20 per console.
I agree it can be expensive for a single console owner, but families who are multi console have a competitive market.
Some games though just aren't worth the asking price whether on disc or download.
Is aliens: colonial marines for £25 as a download and only installable once the future?
Stigweird85 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Physical media isn't going anywhere, there just isn't the infrastructure to support digital only. Not everywhere has broadband and not everyone has the option to download a several GB game file.
Steam is a different thing from both PS Store and Xbox on Demand in as much as they don't have a retail partner to keep happy, they can offer comparable prices and often better deals than physical media as their very business is digital only.
nuggit3000 on 25 Feb '13 said:
Like many have said, this is good if the pricing is right.
They have an option here to get rid of the pre-owned market, without p**sing people off.
Sell me a download for 30 quid at new, and I would always choose download, thus killing the pre-owned market.
At the moment I could buy a game for 50, then re-sell it for 20,.
Take into consideration, the cost for Sony to produce the disc and packaging, shipping, retailers cut etc, I think they would still make the same amount of money, but people would be able to buy more games.
Multiplayerking on 25 Feb '13 said:
As long as the games don't take up 16 GB!
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
Ratchet and Clank on PS3 is 19GB.
DAEDALUS79 on 25 Feb '13 said:
The Sly Cooper trilogy is something like 22GB, literally the only thing stopping me from buying it
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
Daedy you can buy them and download them separately if I recall correctly.
billysastard on 25 Feb '13 said:
how things have changed, it used to be that the big thing against piracy was that you didn't get a manual, box, artwork etc but now with DD people seem quite happy to spend a lot of money paying for even less than pirates have (a pirated game can be burned to disc, installed on multiple machines and even get a printed cover)' you would think that people would have learned their lesson this generation if not the last where not only is digital content expensive but utterly worthless.
i bought halo 2 for xbox, i also bought the halo 2 map packs, both still work on any xbox and any online 360 (needed for the emulator update) but of course they dont work online as the servers are shut down yet they can be played via lan or splitscreen and even online using some pc software however if i'd got the download copy of the mappacks it would be impossible to play them on a 360 and indeed on multiple xbox 1's since i can install my map pack disc on multiple systems (even on the 360) and now we have ps4 coming soon and every piece of ps3 downloaded content will soon be rendered useless, if you owned the discs you could still play them on any available ps3 but with the digital content once the servers are off you just flushed your money down the toilet.
yes, DD prices on consoles are an absolute disgrace but surely its about more than that, its about ownership of what you pay for and how you can use it?
funkyjack on 25 Feb '13 said:
I very rarely will pay more than £30 for a new digital game, and more often than not I will wait until the price comes down closer to £15 - £20. However I have been known to break that rule, I just did with Bioshock infinite for example on Steam, but that included the season pass...
Digital prices on the consoles take the utter p**s.
Bambis Dad on 25 Feb '13 said:
I'll wait for prices to come down on digital titles before purchasing them, but as a consumer I prefer them to disc based games. Less wear and tear and the failure rates of consoles always make me think we should go back to cartridges.
leucocyte on 25 Feb '13 said:
that's nothing.. killzone 3 is 44gb!
FunkYellowMonkey on 25 Feb '13 said:
I don't mind long as its worth the download size!
fatgangsta on 25 Feb '13 said:
Unless the prices are in line with Shop prices then when a game i want comes out yes i probably would do that. The bad thing about that is PSN will keep all it's content full price for ages
sonic_uk on 27 Feb '13 said:
Fully agree, but I fear the upcoming generation for these reasons as opposed to the one after.
FishyGinger on 27 Feb '13 said:
You get bioshock 1 and xcom on the steam deal don't you?