While publishers strives to push us into an all-digital market where it can control every aspect of the consumer experience, a new study from Ipsos MediaCT claims that 64% of consumers still prefer physical copies over downloadable alternatives.
Over 1,000 people were asked, and the results are being used as an indication that the pre-owned market is still a powerful force for the average gamer. Interestingly, 63% of those polled also preferred to get their news from papers as opposed to online, while the music and film industries had slowly lower results, with 45% and 50% respectively plugging for physical media.
“I believe the preference for physical discs amongst next-gen gamers reflects the potential value they derive from the pre-owned market, which is holding up the preference for physical – this is unlike the music and film markets,” said MediaCT director, Ian Bramley.
With pre-owned games still doing very well, and with places like Walmart still remaining a huge and crucial part of the market, it’s hardly surprising that there is a sizable demand for physical copies. There are a still a lot of people who like the illusion of “ownership” that comes with a tangible disc, and I think it’ll be a long time before publishers can displace that mentality, as much as they’d love to have us all go digital by tomorrow morning.
64% of gamers prefer physical copies – survey[CVG]
