Renowned journalist Jason Schreier shares his personal thoughts on the impending decline of the physical video game era after visiting a major second-hand store in the United States. It saddens him to see old boxes of PS2, Wii and PS3, places that will be a thing of the past when Sony abandons discs entirely in 2028.
Schreier pointed out that the industry has finally transformed from a booming market to a mature market segment, and the audience of traditional industries has grown to zero. Attempts to attract new users through VR or the cloud have not achieved large-scale success. Sony management, represented by Hiroki Totoki, has publicly stated that it will focus on monetizing the current 125 million active player base.
The shift to digital allows publishers to maximize profits by saving on logistics and retail chain commissions.
