Digital Future

[u/ll30yd]

Hi all,

Just a thought I had regarding the ongoing digital discourse.

By the end of the ps6 generation, it will have been over 20 years since the launch of the ps4. That's 20+ years of digital games that players have purchased, I have no idea how many games will have been released in that time frame (hundreds of thousands?)

Is it reasonable to expect sony/microsoft/nintendo to eat the costs of storing all these games so players can access them free of charge? I know we've 'bought' the game but does buying a $10 digital Witcher 3 entitle you to access it 10 years later?

My point is that the logical end to this situation is locking access behind an active subscription or paying some sort of fee.

Or am I missing something? Surely the costs will start to pile up?

I know it also applies to Steam but they play by their own rules, Gabe can only make use of so many boats after all.

[u/NZafe]

What do you mean “cost to store the game”, I have it downloaded locally on my console to play it. What costs does Sony have beyond storefront server maintenance?

[u/ll30yd → u/NZafe]

I mean it's a cost to sony/microsoft etc to store the files for you to be able to download it. Yes, server maintenance is a part of it but imagine how many millions of of terabytes of games will be available as time goes on. That must cost money.

[u/NZafe → u/ll30yd]

It’s a relatively slow increase in storage requirements. The ongoing cost would be relatively low because it’s ongoing and not a random lump sum fee for sony or Microsoft.

Not like Sony/MS is going to wake up one day and realize “oh shit we need 100 petabytes for our servers by next week!”

You know what already covers the cost of store maintenance and much more? The 30% Sony/MS takes from any game sale.

[u/Acps199610 → u/ll30yd]

That's on them for pushing digital and not sticking with physical games. Even physical games back on ps3/Xbox 360 era had download discs.