Gamers are left high and dry as physical games are scrapped

I like digital games and have always liked them. The convenience is unbeatable (both in terms of buying and using them), and these days I rarely buy anything in physical form. On top of that, there's the environmental factor.

I know that some people try to suggest that servers have an environmental cost - which is true - but this can never be compared to pressing a disc, manufacturing a plastic case, printing a paper sleeve, wrapping it all in yet another layer of plastic, shipping it to the port, loading it onto a ship, sailing the ship halfway around the world, unloading it from the ship, and having the game transported by lorry all over Europe to reach central warehouses and then shops. There, it will then sit in a warehouse or on a shop shelf - whilst you order the game (which will, once again, have to be repackaged and transported by lorry) or go to the shop yourself to buy it.

It's not even close to being cost-effective - especially as the game will connect to the internet anyway and, in some cases, download the entire game or at least ten gigabytes of patches. In short, I like digital games. It feels like the future.

That said, there are problems. If physical games disappear, there'll no longer be any competition on prices whatsoever. If you don't want to pay the PS Store price for 007 First Light (I'm using PlayStation as an example because they've confirmed the death knell for physical games - I suspect the same will apply to Microsoft), you can order it from other retailers for cheaper. Then you'll also have a physical copy that you can easily lend to a mate and, once he's finished, sell on.

And this is where I feel the main problem lies. Games are soon going to become ridiculously expensive and will have to be played on ridiculously expensive consoles. We're talking about a luxury hobby where consoles are likely to cost around $1000, with games costing almost $100 each. On top of that, you'll also need some sort of subscription, and then there are all the live services you'll have to splash out on just to be able to use your game as intended.

It doesn't really feel viable. Video games have always been defined by simplicity, a low barrier to entry and reasonably capable hardware that developers then optimise games for ad absurdum. You buy the games, and can then lend them to mates or sell them to someone. But none of this is likely to define the next generation.

One argument against digital games has always been that they are expensive, something that is hard to deny. Despite the fact that all the middlemen are cut out - and costs for materials, manufacturing and transport are eliminated, not to mention that the retailer naturally wants to make a profit on the sale - these games have been cheaper than their digital counterparts. What's more, their prices tend to fall even further if the games in question haven't been big hits. It's reasonable to assume that digital games can't be cheaper than every physical shop in the world, but unfortunately they haven't been cheaper than any of them - and that's obviously harder to justify.

But it gets worse, because, as I said, you can't resell digital games, which is perhaps reasonable given that we don't actually own them at all. We pay the full price, but the companies can take the games away from us whenever they wish. We've agreed to this ourselves when we buy digitally. And this isn't just a worst-case scenario; it's a very real reality - it's already happening that we're losing access to games and films we've bought digitally. It's very likely that many of the games you own won't be playable in twenty years' time due to rights disputes, servers being shut down which prevent you from downloading the games, and similar issues.

GOG in particular, but also Steam, offer excellent options to ensure you can keep and continue playing your games even if the platforms were to be shut down, but there is nothing of the sort for consoles. For Sony gamers, the problem of an entirely digital future is the greatest of all, as Microsoft has at least taken some steps to mitigate the issue, and the Xbox Series S/X can play games from all previous generations, even if this is far from comprehensive. What's more, it will soon be possible to convert your discs into digital versions so you can continue playing them in the future. However, if the Xbox servers are shut down, Xbox gamers will probably be in a right mess anyway.

If you play on the PlayStation 5, there is admittedly support for PlayStation 4 games, but that's as far as it goes. You'll just have to forget about everything you own from the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Without a disc drive, these games won't run anyway, and there's no backwards compatibility. A fully digital PlayStation 6 would therefore cut PlayStation's lifespan in half, complete with the same problems as the Xbox, namely poor protection against server shutdowns (this isn't just scare-mongering - look at what's happened to the Nintendo 3DS, the PS Vita, the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360). Furthermore, there's the phenomenon that certain games simply won't work without a regular internet connection, though this is more of a side note and isn't specifically linked to digital games.

In short, digital is the future, but I'm not at all convinced that it's the future in its current form. Microsoft and, above all, Sony are pushing for incredibly expensive games with worse terms and conditions and a sort of feeling that we're just renting our games at full price. Before they start talking about removing the only option we have, they should explain how they intend to soften the blow. Will we be able to sell our games (something that's possible with Nintendo's much-maligned Game Key Cards, which are an incredibly better option than nothing at all), lend them to whoever we like, will the significantly higher profit per digital game sold result in lower prices, and what guarantees are there that they'll still work in the future?

Sort this out properly first. Then we can start talking about phasing out physical games, and the criticism will be considerably milder. As it stands, we're all being pushed off a cliff, and I'm very grateful that the gaming community has reacted as strongly as it has.