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Sony reaffirms retail commitment after Gaikai purchase
by Steve Watts, Jul 09, 2012 4:00pm PDTSony's recent purchase of Gaikai was one more sign of a major shift in the console market. As digital distribution and streaming games become more prominent options for consumers, brick-and-mortar stores are running the risk of obsolescence. But that change is coming slowly, and Sony has assured retailers they're important for the next generation of consoles.
"Coming down off that 2008 peak has been a steep ride for many and has involved fallout on many levels, not least of all retail," Sony UK boss Fergal Gara told MCV. He suggests that this is forcing some retailers to rethink their involvement in the space, but Sony hopes they stay the course. "We'd love to see as many of those retailers as possible maintain their interest in servicing the space because clearly down the road many of us are going to be doing our best to give another injection into the market whenever the next cycle starts."
Rumors have circulated that Sony considered cutting out physical media completely from the PlayStation 4, but those seem to have dissipated. The company's plans for its Gaikai acquisition are unknown, but it could be to offer an easy method of accessing older games without needing to emulate on the system itself.
Comments
Sony has made comments about the necessity of retailers moving into the next generation, just as its Gaikai acquisition takes the company another step towards a retail-free future.
Sony has made comments about the necessity of retailers moving into the next generation, just as its Gaikai acquisition takes the company another step towards a retail-free future. : Shacknews
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Can't happen why? I don't think your argument below is a strong case for that. It'll happen when internet penetration and QoS reaches a certain point. That might be what is essentially 2-3 generations away but I don't see any compelling reason for it to never happen.
To tie in with the music analogy - if there were two different formats each with a single company controlling them (i.e., Sony controls CD, Microsoft controls cassettes or something) and one started transitioning to all-digital only? You bet it would start getting phased out in favor of the format which doesn't try to shut out retail.
But it won't work that way. Every platform holder will make the transition at a similar time and a similar rate because it's equally advantageous for all of them vs retail. If MS goes heavily digital rather than retail it's because that's where the money is. Sony can't go 'haha now we're going to take all of retail!' and get in bed deeper with Walmart and GameStop and suddenly conjure up additional retail sales into existence. If the retail market is shrinking relative to the digital one in such a way as to encourage some platform holders to increasingly shift that way, then it is that way for everyone in the game.
The whole point is digital makes such a format transition unlike the days of CDs and cassettes. You're increasingly not beholden to a third party to get your wares into the hands of your customers. You have a direct relationship that benefits the platform holder and the consumer in a number of ways. Retailers can shut you out if you don't play ball, but the percentage of sales they can hold over a platform owner's head is shrinking, not growing.
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