In Stav’s blog about video game stores, she explains that shops such as EB games and GameStop could see the ghosts of Blockbuster in their future as the industry is moving towards digital content. I take the opposite stance on this topic, and believe digital copies are not a disruptive innovation.
Forza Motorsport 5 = 40GB
With new video game systems such as the Xbox One and PS4 boasting large hard drives of 500GB, it may seem like common sense to believe that you could fit a lot of digital games on these systems. Think again. The average size of an Xbox One video game is 10GB-15GB compared to the size of movies which clock in, around 1GB. With a popular Xbox One game such as Forza Motorsport 5 measuring in at an astounding 40GB! With a 500GB hard drive that is only 15-20 games not too mention the fact that 50Gb is usually unusable and actually saving progress and game data requires space as well. As someone who recreationally plays video game, I find it a lot easier to purchase a game at a store like GameStop, then having to use a credit card and not have the flexibility that a standard disk affords you. For example, how am I supposed to take my digital game to my friends house? I can’t take a because it’s made to be only playable on your specific system.
I can’t see a future where gamers start completely ditching physical copies of disks in exchange for digital ones, as they don’t offer the same flexibility. Consumers are hard to predict, but I foresee this situation playing out similarly to the e-books one, where some people will gravitate towards digital versions, but not enough to cause the demise of any major players.
EB Games Logo
Picture References
Forza Motorsport 5 – http://gamingtrend.com/wp-content/screenshots/forza-5-e3-screens-06-12-2013/3d_lhs_xbox_one_forza-5_esrb.jpg
