Ubisoft Admits Physical Sales Will Get Even Lower

One of the hottest topics in video games is the future of physical media, with both Microsoft and Sony making moves to suggest digital will eventually win out.

The huge Xbox leak of last month revealed Microsoft’s alleged plan to launch a digital-only mid-generation console refresh of the Xbox Series X and S. And this week Sony announced a mid-gen refresh of the PlayStation 5, with a smaller console that comes with a detachable disc-drive.

Now Ubisoft has snapped up the cloud gaming rights for all Activision Blizzard games as part of Microsoft’s $69 billion deal for the Call of Duty maker, the French mega-publisher has issued a blog post featuring an interview with Chris Early, Ubisoft’s SVP, Strategic Partnerships & Business Development, who was asked: what do you think of the future of physical media in games?

Here’s his response: “There’s a collector edition market. There’s the aspect of gifting physical items and allowing access for people to be able to easily purchase a game in a store and gift them to their friends or family. Some people will always want to own the physical disc. I just don’t think it’s going away. Do I think physical sales might get lower over time? Sure, but will it ever completely go away? I don’t think so.”

Early’s answer will do little to reassure those concerned about the perhaps inevitable extinction of physical games. It suggests discs will become a niche for collectors as the dominance of digital grows ever further.

Reacting to the PS5 slim announcement, analysts suggested this trend will accelerate. Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research & Insights at Niko Partners, tweeted to say “this is more indicative of Sony’s current thinking around its approach for next gen”. “If the new Digital Edition does gain traction and we see a continued trajectory of increased digital software sell through, then I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony makes digital + disc drive add-on the default option for next gen.”

Piers Harding-Rolls, games industry analyst at Ampere, added: “More gamers buying into the digital edition of the console will drive more sales of digital games through the PlayStation storefront. This will drive more storefront revenue for Sony and support its profit margin objectives.”