Best Buy exiting the physical media business next year (4K/Blu-Ray/DVD) UPDATE: Target next

[MeachTheMonster]

Its is though, having games in stores gets people in the stores, to buy accessories/peripherals, consoles, and its good advertisement to have boxes of your games and signs that point to casual consumers.

Its not a zero sum game between physical game money and digital game money. Thats why nintendo thrives with hardware, there is so much signage for nintendo in department stores still. Its branding

You buy your PSVR in the store

Only people still in stores buying games is dusty nikkas and old people.

We are up to like 90% of all games being sold digital.

Makes zero sense for anyone to still be slumming around with discs, from the stores to publishers.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

We are up to like 90% of all games being sold digital.

Thats not even close to true. Digital sales have fallen in the past year on every platform

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Thats not even close to true. Digital sales have fallen in the past year on every platform

Over 94% of All Worldwide Game Sales in 2022 Were Digital – Report

Global digital game revenue for the year stands at $172.8 billion, as opposed to $10.7 billion of global physical game revenue.

gamingbolt.com

You are a retailer, now why in the hell would you dedicate large parts of your store this small and further shrinking market

 

[winb83]

Its is though, having games in stores gets people in the stores, to buy accessories/peripherals, consoles, and its good advertisement to have boxes of your games and signs that point to casual consumers.

Its not a zero sum game between physical game money and digital game money. Thats why nintendo thrives with hardware, there is so much signage for nintendo in department stores still. Its branding

Whatever cut Best Buy and GameStop get of game sales the platform holders can have that. People shop online. If they need accessories Amazon exist.

We went through a period of time where you couldn’t even get a console at a store, had to buy it online, and the business survived. Thrived even.

To the retailers there aren’t many advantages to dedicating store shelf space to something that sells less and less and they can just sell online anyway to a soon to be niche crowd.

Alan Wake 2 is just the beginning of mainstream games deciding to skip physical releases altogether because it’s cheaper for publishers. Soon enough only the biggest games will have persistent physical releases and other games will have short limited runs if any at all.

 

[feelosofer]

Yea I really dislike this move away from physical media but I get it the margins are tighter for games and not having to print disks/cartridges saves a lot of money.

 

[NotAnFBIagent]

neutering their elite tiers last year (spend $3.5k/year for perma 2.5% off) was what almost did it for me, now i think i'm out too

What were you buying for $3500 every year

 

[east]

What were you buying for $3500 every year

hard drives to shuck

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

You buy your PSVR in the store

Only people still in stores buying games is dusty nikkas and old people.

We are up to like 90% of all games being sold digital.

Makes zero sense for anyone to still be slumming around with discs, from the stores to publishers.

Pretty piss poor example considering the PSVR2 is an abject failure.

 

[Mister_DoItNice]

What were you buying for $3500 every year

It’s actually pretty easy, especially if you have a Best Buy card. Their financing options are always on point for big ticket items. You get a tv and maybe a couple other things and you already cross the threshold.

 

[Cakebatter]

Physical movie sales started to slow down before Netflix even started its streaming service. I spoke to a district manager at a Best Buy back in 2006 and they already had a plan in place to reduce the size of the movie and music sections even back then. Netflix started its streaming service back in 2007. I think people were burnt out from the transition from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray/ HD DVD, and now UHD 4k. Then you had Hollywood milking us by offering a directors cuts of movies 6 months after the theatrical release on disc. I've owned 5 different sets of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Its crazy. Physical media sales were a huge boom for Hollywood throughout the 80s and 90s. Disney had their Vault, so when they released a movie on VHS, you had a short window to buy it (6 months or so), and they wouldn't rerelease it for years. Used Disney movies use to sell for big bucks from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. Now Hollywood and even Disney is struggling to make a profit off streaming. The death of the home theater hasn't helped either.

 

[daze23]

Physical movie sales started to slow down before Netflix even started its streaming service. I spoke to a district manager at a Best Buy back in 2006 and they already had a plan in place to reduce the size of the movie and music sections even back then. Netflix started its streaming service back in 2007. I think people were burnt out from the transition from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray/ HD DVD, and now UHD 4k. Then you had Hollywood milking us by offering a directors cuts of movies 6 months after the theatrical release on disc. I've owned 5 different sets of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Its crazy. Physical media sales were a huge boom for Hollywood throughout the 80s and 90s. Disney had their Vault, so when they released a movie on VHS, you had a short window to buy it (6 months or so), and they wouldn't rerelease it for years. Used Disney movies use to sell for big bucks from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. Now Hollywood and even Disney is struggling to make a profit off streaming. The death of the home theater hasn't helped either.

back in the 80's, most movies really weren't a consumer product. they were super expensive because they were mostly sold to video rental spots. Disney was kind of the exception, because of the appeal to kids. but like you said, they rarely released. that all started to change towards the end of the VHS era, and as DVD's came around. but they were still pretty expensive, as rental was still the preferred method for most people. I remember Belly was one of the first DVD's I copped for $20. it was a few years later that became the standard price for most movies

 

[Cakebatter]

back in the 80's, most movies really weren't a consumer product. they were super expensive because they were mostly sold to video rental spots. Disney was kind of the exception, because of the appeal to kids. but like you said, they rarely released. that all started to change towards the end of the VHS era, and as DVD's came around. but they were still pretty expensive, as rental was still the preferred method for most people. I remember Belly was one of the first DVD's I copped for $20. it was a few years later that became the standard price for most movies

By the late 80s VCRs were dirt cheap and commonplace. Video rental stores were popular, but movie sales were also commonplace. Hollywood knew you could just record movies from TV and Cable if you couldn't buy the movie. I still own a handful of VHS titles from the 80s. The Blockbuster Video copy of a movie was only expensive due to the licensing agreements that granted them the right to rent it. Retail movie copies weren't expensive. I know because when I lost a rental copy and the Blockbuster wanted to charge me $75, I complained that I could buy the same movie for $20 down the street. They explained to me the difference in price. DVD sales skyrocketed right after release. No need to rewind, a better picture, and no tracking errors. I'm convinced Warner Bros generated more money from home video sales of The Matrix than box office ticket sales. I started selling AV equipment just after the launch of DVD.

 

[daze23]

By the late 80s VCRs were dirt cheap and commonplace. Video rental stores were popular, but movie sales were also commonplace. Hollywood knew you could just record movies from TV and Cable if you couldn't buy the movie. I still own a handful of VHS titles from the 80s. The Blockbuster Video copy of a movie was only expensive due to the licensing agreements that granted them the right to rent it. Retail movie copies weren't expensive. I know because when I lost a rental copy and the Blockbuster wanted to charge me $75, I complained that I could buy the same movie for $20 down the street. They explained to me the difference in price. DVD sales skyrocketed right after release. No need to rewind, a better picture, and no tracking errors. I'm convinced Warner Bros generated more money from home video sales of The Matrix than box office ticket sales. I started selling AV equipment just after the launch of DVD.

I remember the Matrix was a big seller

my maneuver was copying movies with two VCR's, before Macrovision became prevalent

 

[MrLogic]

Are they still going to sale physical games?

 

[Pressure]

Dudes making fidelity arguments like the entire process didn’t start and finish digitally for 99% of the media they’re consuming.

If you’re concerned about streaming then just download it onto physical media and keep it moving.