Console Options Without Disc Drives Could Be GameStop's Final Death Knell

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The latest quarterly earnings report from GameStop doesn't show much sign of a turnaround for the long-troubled game retailer. Sales were down 26.7 percent year over year for the April through June quarter. Even accounting for permanent store closures and COVID-related reduced operating hours, so-called comparable "same-store" sales were still down 12.7 percent year over year. GameStop's already depressed stock is down nearly 8 percent on the news, as of this writing. GameStop still publicly sees an "opportunity to capitalize" on the upcoming release of new Sony and Microsoft consoles, which could help turn its business around in the short term. But there's some reason to believe the coming generation of consoles could actually make GameStop's long-term prospects worse, thanks to console options that get rid of disc drives entirely.

In an earnings call, GameStop CEO George Sherman acknowledged that "there has been growth in digitally downloaded games" and said GameStop is "not debating the growth of digital gaming." But he also tried to put a positive spin on the fate of GameStop's physical game sales going into the next generation of consoles. "First, new consoles have a disc drive," Sherman said. "So for the next seven years, the consoles will play both the physical and digital software that we sell." That's only partially true, though. Both the Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition actually won't have a disc drive. And while GameStop does sell some digital software, the bulk of its business comes from the sale of new physical games and high-margin pre-owned games. We don't know what percentage of consumers will opt for these disc-free consoles, of course. Still, lower hardware costs could definitely make discless consoles an attractive option to many potential customers this generation. The Xbox Series S is $200 cheaper than the more-powerful, disc-drive-equipped Series X, a sum that could go toward a lot of digital game purchases...

Disc Free You Always get screwed.

[rtb61]

I stopped buying from steam because publishers are arseholes, that try to charge extra for games already sold, add advertising in loading screens, alter game play to sell add ons, without it, the game no longer plays well, change privacy rules, refuse and block the game from running, break games so they no longer play, break games to block mods, add in micro transaction now required because of altered grind game play, all post sale. All this shit done with with the 100% total backing of steam to screw over customers. You can not block updates no matter how bad, done by steam on purpose so publishers can fuck you over for years after you buy the game. Now the prices totally ludicrous for many really old games because the many of the latest games are customer abusive shite. Unplayable without paying to win.

Digital software purchases are becoming and much worse decision by the day and Steam and their publisher mates are a pack o cunts.

Re:

[fred911]

May I suggest you read this..

''Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked''

Holding media for something you thought gave you right to use, only grants permissions in the EULA and not a static version of what you may have thought you purchased.

Re:Disc Free You Always get screwed.

[ludux]

Having used Steam for over a decade, I have encountered literally zero of any of that.

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[DontBeAMoran]

Then you haven't used Steam much for indie games. Addons, season passes, locked zones or features is very much the norm for an ever increasing percentage of games made by big studios now.

Play recent Activision or EA sports games

[rsilvergun]

OP is trolling, but there's been some really shady stuff from Activision of late. i.e. leaving out the nastier forms of loot box until after the reviews have dropped. And EA sports games (and 2K Basketball for that matter) are downright evil.

It's not all bad. EA went back and turned Star Wars Battlefront II into a pretty great game. For free. And sold it to me for $5 bucks. But there are cases of vulnerable people getting abused. Jimquisition of YouTube fame, who I gather had a bit of a gambling problem

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[AmiMoJo]

There should be a global "do not allow micro transactions or in-game purchases or gambling" switch for the console. Since Sony and Microsoft have to sign off on every game released they should require there to no "pay to win" mechanics, and ensure that any paid items are randomly distributed too so kids don't get bullied for being "default".

Re: Play recent Activision or EA sports games

[e3m4n]

EA has been killing titles for a couple decades now. Starting in the late 90s, if EA absorbed your studio it was the end. Bullfrog, Westwood, Origin, Activision/Pandemic, Mythic, Maxis, Visceral...

If EA got their hands on a title they would gang rape the shit out of it until it was a discarded, hollow, vessel of its former self.

EA never wanted the title

[rsilvergun]

they wanted the programmers. When EA buys a company they're not buying the games, they're buying the people.

Re:

[e3m4n]

and from what I hear, worked them 100hrs a week on straight salary even when it was not part of the crunch cycle.

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[burningcpu]

I consider stuff like Battlefront II as recon. The industry 'tests the waters' every few months with a more egregious intrusion / scammy tactic, and if the shit storm is too strong, they issue a non-apology and roll back the changes until it's "just tolerable," then slowly add back the problematic policies, like boiling a frog.

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[burningcpu]

I have experienced much of what Parent is talking about here. I don't really feel like writing a long comment atm, but I can confirm that many games add monetization post-purchase. Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike GO, GTA 5 Online, PUBG - these are all games that were initially available without microtransactions, but had them added later as the game went to a Free-to-play, pay-to-win, or a mix of both. Further, many games add microtransactions a month or two after launch, so game reviewers generate their sc

Couldn't you just buy from Gog.com then?

[rsilvergun]

It's a bit of a pain to have to install all the patches though. At any rate just buy when stuff goes on sale for cheap and treat it like a rental. When I was a kid rented games were $5 bucks for 3 nights. Inflation adjusted I think that would be $8-$10 in today's money. I paid that for freakin Vanquish. And Epic has given me 93 freaking games.

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[DrMrLordX]

I buy almost everything I get from GoG now. It really is a superior service for the customer. You can use GoG Galaxy to manage patches if you like (not required).

Modding still kinda sucks on Gog

[rsilvergun]

compared to Steam. Also Gog tends to get patches later, sometimes months later. Still I prefer Gog since I don't have to faff about with DRM.

Re:

[DrMrLordX]

Those are two of the biggest problems with GoG. The other one being that AAA publishers generally won't sell anything new there. You will get some trickle-down of older titles on GoG (with logins/DRM stripped out) eventually. And obviously "online only" content won't be distributed there.

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[burningcpu]

Yeah, after someone had mentioned the benefits of GOG a few months ago, I started using their Galaxy platform as the launchpad for all my games, across all the services. It's easy to give it access to my Steam, Uplay, Origin, Battle.net and Epic game stores, so I can view all my games in one place, and Galaxy can be set to open and close each service, after the game is closed. It makes gaming more transparent and fun.

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[DrMrLordX]

I'm surprised none of the big store curators (Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc) have broken that functionality.

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[catprog]

Why would they?

They still are getting the sale.

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[DrMrLordX]

Yes and no. If you look at each service's individual store, they're carefully crafted to produce MORE sales. Look at Steam's community functions, trading cards, and other doodads. It's all designed to help you spend money on the store on something you didn't necessarily intend to buy.

Limiting exposure to the storefront limits purchases.

Not that I'm complaining! If I can log in to Steam every so often and then launch my titles via Galaxy, I don't have to deal with Steam upselling me crap, and I could swit

Re:

[Cylix]

I will buy the console with a drive so I can buy up used games a year later.

I still have a shelf of greats for the ps4.

I only really play it when I have a cold. The last few have been semi fun. I still have sleeping dogs remastered to try. I never paid more then 10 dollars a game. So I can buy the console and in a year nab up 20 games.

If GameStop has any sense they won’t sale the driveless console.

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[jonwil]

None of the games in my Steam library (including the Command & Conquer Remastered collection, Total War Shogun 2, various LEGO video games and games in the Fallout series) contain microtransations, pay-to-win, loot boxes, in-game ads or other customer-unfriendly crap.

Fallout 4 does have the Creation Club but A.You don't need to buy any of it to play or even win the game and B.At any given time you can buy all the content available on the Creation Club and you own it forever.

The secret is to avoid the ga

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[burningcpu]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but the problem is that publishers add this stuff long after the game was released, into games that had no microtransaction presence at all - https://www.tweaktown.com/news... [tweaktown.com] Blizzard released a crippled remaster of Warcraft 3 and backported changes to the original version, and in doing so, removed many of the features of the original game. Owners of the original game, even if they did not buy the remaster, had their original game changed and features removed. There are more exa

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[Jamu]

Guilt by association. I've not seen any of this crap coming from Steam, just the publishers.

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[Canberra1]

Lobby so doctrine of first sale is ENFORCABLE, as in Germany and Switzerland where you can transfer licenses - and there is nothing grey - that is the law. Interestingly Adobe persisted in legal actions that prolonged those dark years in perpetuating a myth. But lost, eventually. The magic law is BUY and not LEASE. Now if the software is leased, there is a leasing tax in most states/countries. That conditions and functionality change over time - it looks like a lease to me. Leased good and profit - also c

Re:

[Anubis IV]

You can not block updates no matter how bad, done by steam on purpose so publishers can fuck you over for years after you buy the game.

Sure you can. You can disable auto-updates on any game. Check the game’s properties.

I’m calling you out on this fact because it’s so egregiously wrong, but none of the rest of your post had a ring of truth about it. While I wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of the game-specific complaints you made have likely happened at some point (resulting in poor sales for that game as no one buys their game because no one wants to put up with that stuff), I can’t think of a single instanc

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[spire3661]

You cannot run the game without it trying to update if you are online. Valve removed the ability to 'lock in' a version. They gave the decision to the publisher, not the user.

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[Nugoo]

The one that really pissed me off was when Rockstar put out a patch that removed some music tracks from GTA: SA. I should have just pirated it.

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[thegarbz]

I stopped buying from steam because publishers are arseholes, that try to charge extra for games already sold, add advertising in loading screens, alter game play to sell add ons, without it, the game no longer plays well, change privacy rules, refuse and block the game from running, break games so they no longer play, break games to block mods, add in micro transaction now required because of altered grind game play, all post sale.

Fark me what crappy games are you buying. Even EA doesn't do that. I'm calling bullshit.

Well...

[bjdevil66]

The Xbox Series S is $200 cheaper than the more-powerful, disc-drive-equipped Series X, a sum that could go toward a lot of digital game purchases...

How much will that buy? Two games and add-ons? I wouldn't say that's "a lot" anymore when it comes to games (unless they're used - oh wait, nevermind...)

R.I.P. first sale doctrine

[Powercntrl]

While Gamestop's plight makes me want to play the world's saddest song on the world's smallest violin, I do lament the loss of being able to actually own a copy of a game on physical media. It also seems rather anti-competitive for game console companies to decide there can be absolutely no second-hand market for used games.

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[SkonkersBeDonkers]

And not just the second hand but also the fact that now a 5 year old game instead of being in the bargain bin is still selling for the full price.

This is "worst" with e-books where a 50 year old book that can be bought in a brand new paperback for $3 is selling for $10 as an ebook.

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[jellomizer]

As many gamers are now getting older Nostalgia is hitting in. And we want to revisit the games of our youth.

For most of us this isn't a problem, because we either still have access to the games on Disk, Cartridge, CD... and can still find devices to read them. There are also sites like Stream and GOG that have rather lax policies towards the games.

However for the kids today who are playing their game, in 20 years from now. When the server is offline. They will no longer relive the games of old.

We can re

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[Dareth]

When games force an update before allowing you to play, having a disc stops being an advantage and you have the disadvantage of needing to swap disc to play different games.

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[burningcpu]

There are other benefits, such as the ability to sell your 'used' games.

Physical shelf for electronic versions of games

[burningcpu]

I've been feeling dissatisfied with electronic-game-collecting for a while now. Looking through my games and selecting one to play just doesn't feel as nice as looking at a shelf, pulling a case down and being able to look at the manual, pictures of the gameplay, etc. I've been thinking about making a physical interface for my electronic only games. Something like a doublesided and laminated card, with information something similar to what we see on the physical retail copies, and a barcode, such that I'd b

You've been able to buy disc-free for a while now

[SuperKendall]

I honestly don't think GameStop needs to panic over this.

Wouldn't it be the case that most people who wanted to buy online over a disc, already are?

I've bought a few games online, but in the end I really prefer a physical disc. I can re-sell, or loan it out to friends. It means a somewhat smaller initial download (though probably not a lot slower with the huge day 1 patches games usually have now).

Also, look at the PS5. It offers a way to load in only assets for the aspects of the game you intend to use - so you could play single player first for a while, then offload those assets. If you want to go back it a disc will be way quicker than re-downloading all the single player content...

Basically, there are jus a lot of reason for people to like discs even as the consoles attempt to diminish the use of them.

The problem is multiplayer games are dominating

[rsilvergun]

and there's not a lot of point to owning a physical copy of Fortnite or one of the Call of Duty's except to save a little on bandwidth (yeah, I know most CODs have a campaign, I also know statistics show most don't finish it).

And there aren't enough single player games to keep Gamestop going. Last I was in one before Quarantine 1/3rd of the store was swag. That stuff's super profitable, but people don't go there to buy it, they go to buy games and walk out with some swag. Like a gas station model. Imagi

Re: The problem is multiplayer games are dominatin

[e3m4n]

A gas station w/o gas is called a tiny walmart. Theres only 3 things that compel people to seek out a gas station, well 4 now that I think about it.
Gas for your car
Lottery Tickets
Cigarettes
Propane exchange

Aside from gas for your car, you can get the other stuff elsewhere, but its generally faster to get it at a gas station, so thats usually the first stop.

Re:

[kenai_alpenglow]

And you can get the Gas at the full-sized walmart.

Re: The problem is multiplayer games are dominati

[e3m4n]

Out of the 7 super walmarts I know, only 1 decided to do the kroger gas model. But there is no way I would subject myself to walmart for anything on that list. The kroger gas model has no convenient store which means you gotta deal with the full sized store. I dont smoke, and I dont play the lottery except when the jackpot is so stupidly high. That just really leaves propane. There is no way I am dealing with the lines inside walmart or home depot just to buy propane. I dont care if its $2 cheaper. I want t

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[burningcpu]

What about selling your games after you're done with them, though?

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[mutantSushi]

"Wouldn't it be the case that most people who wanted to buy online over a disc, already are?"

I think issue is on top of those people who bought digital even while their console had disc drive, now you will have people who were buying discs but can't resist getting a $200 discount on a console that doesn't have a disc, so now they are forced to buy digital. Although unmentioned aspect is the cheaper Xbox is also less performant, only targeting normal HD resolution instead of 4K. So people who want the full

Re:

[cygnusvis]

$200 discount

Its better. You LEASE the console now and pay monthly for the service.

Re:

[SkonkersBeDonkers]

That's just an option, you can still buy the disc-less console outright for $299.

Re:

[im_thatoneguy]

You don't lease it because you don't return it when the lease is up.

You get a 0% 24mo payment plan if you also subscribe.

Re: You've been able to buy disc-free for a while

[e3m4n]

I always bought disc over digital, even though many games downloaded 3x as much, because of the cost difference. Its rare I buy a game at release. Very few games sell at full MSRP after a few months. That sort of shit is usually reserved for nintendo titles like mario cart. Usually after a few months the price will be 20% less than release. Its not that I am waiting just for the price to go down, its usually just when I happen to have the time to check it out. Digital copies on the other hand tend to still

Re:

[SuperKendall]

I think issue is on top of those people who bought digital even while their console had disc drive, now you will have people who were buying discs but can't resist getting a $200 discount on a console that doesn't have a disc

That $200 isn't as significant as it first appears though:

1) (you bring this up at the end of your message) If you are paying the monthly price for the Xbox, it's only a small amount more to get the version that supports discs - and 4K. If you are entering a payment program for somethi

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[scdeimos]

I think GameStop and their international brethren will lose some (hopefully very small) amount of customers to the disc-free consoles just because some people will decide that the $200 saving outweighs their need for discs.

For single-player games I definitely prefer discs and will continue to buy them that way.

Publishers are making discs less relevant for multi-player games, though, with all the regular updates and DLCs they tend to come with. I was pretty shocked when I shoved Destiny 2 into the PlayStatio

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[CohibaVancouver]

Basically, there are jus a lot of reason for people to like discs even as the consoles attempt to diminish the use of them.

I'm not a hardcore gamer (we have a Switch) but I have to assume the next round of consoles won't have cartridge slots / disc drives at all.

...likely just MicroSD card slots for expansion and that's it.

Dics will comeback like Vinyl records

[backslashdot]

Discs may make a comeback. Why not? There'll be idiots claiming disc based graphics are superior, less compressed or something .. who know? After all, there are "audiophile" morons who think vinyl is superior even to 96 kHz sampled digital audio. I'll admit it's true though, you really can tell the difference between vinyl and digital .. I mean, vinyl crackles for one thing .. with digital you have to introduce artificial crackling.

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[dragonturtle69]

My CDs and DVDs will not cease to exist when a company goes under, like online crap. And they work just fine during power and internet outages, so long as the UPS or laptop battery holds out. And, I can always make a backup should I have concerns about the physical media's condition.

Anything in the cloud can become vapor.

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[scdeimos]

Except that a lot of disc-based games have online components now. Even if you're not interested in multi-player gaming, or online shops, etc., you'd better hope that the core game is still playable when the DRM servers get switched off.

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[cygnusvis]

artificial crackling.

Real vinyl crackling is superior to artificial crackling.

Disk Media

[cygnusvis]

Disk media is over, use solid state media or don't distribute game physically anymore.

Stop that cryinv

[cygnusvis]

Nobody cried over blockbuster when netflix gave them the boot. Netflix is so powerful now they can do anything (even cuties).

The writing on the wall...Retrain and adapt,or die

[fleeped]

Unless they change their business model, they're done for. Make the stores more like the console-equivalent of internet cafe maybe. But yeah, this middleman is out for good, Steam and all other "stores" ate that pie already.

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[Deathlizard]

I remember reading somewhere that Gamestop was looking into going down a LAN Cafe model, or at the very least was test modeling it. Not sure how well that would fly considering the business model has been dying for awhile now.

What they need to do right now is focus hard on Retro Gaming. That's really where the console money is right now. If they focus on selling professionally refurbished and guaranteed old consoles and peripherals like NES's and Sega Genesis's as well as buy and sell vintage games, They wo

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[fleeped]

Retro is a good point. They should have experience and assets. What they can offer that you don't get at home is the vibe of those decades, encompassing sights and sounds, besides the actual games/consoles. Now with covid it would be a bit difficult though.

Physical Copies Already Dying

[Vandil X]

With game publishers choosing a launch date and releasing the game, then having a Day 1 patch that fixes everything wrong in the Golden Master, it's clear that many physical copies seen in stores are probably rush-jobs with bugs and performance issues.

Long after the software update servers are down in the future, anyone popping in a physical game for the first time is going to be stuck with the v1.00 version of the game with those unfixed bugs and issues.

Some developers are releasing upgrades and additional content to the game long after launch, which is great, but there is no re-launch of a physical copy with those new, free upgrades, incorporated. So again, these get lost when the software update server is down.

As someone who loves collecting physical copies and gets pleasure from admiring them on the shelf as much as playing them, I'm afraid the era of physical has already ended and is just waiting for the consoles themselves to stop accepting media.

Remaining optimistic

[goldspider]

I'm not selling my shares until Netcraft confirms GameStop is dying.

Polls so far show otherwise

[Anonymous Coward]

There have been polls conducted in many game sites such as IGN showing that despite price, people want to purchase the consoles with the disc drives. The latest poll (post Xbox Series S reveal) shows 50% want the PS5 with the disc drive and 30% want the Xbox with the disc drive. 14% want the discless PS5 and 6% the discless Xbox.

Good riddance

[GRYB Ranix]

Good thing they spent the entirety of the past 10 years ensuring I do not give a shit.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Way down at the bottom, I found the best comment in the thread.

Gamestop built their business selling used games for dead platforms. Then they discontinued carrying the games for the old ones. Now they offer nothing you can't get online with less hassle. Consoles without drives are not what's killing Gamestop. Gamestop is killing Gamestop. I used to go in regularly to get games, and while I was there I'd see other stuff I wanted to buy. Now I don't go in there at all, and fuck them right in their corporate a

Used games were never cheap

[TomClancy_Jack]

For first-run games, it never seemed worth the effort to me to drive to a store to buy a used game (with a disc that may or may not be in good shape) for $4 less than new and then try to sell it back for $3 (hyperbole, I know) . When, I could download it from my living-room in roughly the same amount of time spent downloading patches. That being said, I do see that buying a game that was a few years old could be significantly cheaper than the digital version. I just bought Persona 5 for $20 and I'm sure I

Where can I trade in my discs for online licenses?

[jsepeta]

If I could ship my physical media to Microsoft and have them give me licenses in return, then a disc-free Xbox would be in my future. Otherwise, I must re-purchase games I have already bought, plus DLC, with no guarantee there will be enough players in the forum to join an older version of COD. Until then, no thanks.

Microsoft Needs Physical Game Sales

[LiteBulb]

If Apple wins against Epic, I expect Microsoft will go all digital for Xbox and Windows and be the only source of games and software. As will Sony and Nintendo. That will be the true and absolute death knell for Gamestop.

Disks from local library and more

[EnOne]

A couple of reasons I will buy the disk version of the next generation

1. Disk prices on games drop faster then the PS$ store
2. I can sell an old game
3. I can let a friend borrow a game.
4. My local library allows me to check out a disk for a week at a time for free

Only reasons to get the online version
1. I can swap to the game without inserting a disk
2. I don't have to worry about scratched/damaged disks
3. Lack of physical storage space, (cabinet, closet, cardboard box) for old games

grammar nazi title

[TimothyHollins]

This article is bothering me. There is no *final* death knell, as that would indicate the previous knells were not signalling death at all. Death is final already, there is no gradient of more/less dead.

By the disc, stupid.

[Smonster]

While it may seem convenient to just download the game and play it now without ever leaving home. Doing so is foolish. You can't share the game with others when you are done, you can't exchange the games with a friend in a loan or permanent trade, and you can't resell the game. And the companies charge the same amount of money for the game even though you are unable to do any of those things.