>>718997783
FPBP
Physical games cut into margins, that's why every single big publisher is trying its hardest to kill it. But they know that removing the option entirely would cause huge backlash, so they do these purposefully awful compromises, like game-key cards and Sony selling disc drives as separate add-ons for the PS5 Pro. It's meant to be frustrating and an added obstacle, because they just want you to give up and buy digitally.
Buying digital means much more restrictive return policies, games being locked to your account (and selling your account is against TOS), zero cost of physical production and distribution, no used games market whatsoever, and less competition. To get the game, you must go through their platform with their set prices. And they want it to seem like the "convenient" option because they purposefully make the physical option as unappealing as possible, so people give up and normalize buying a license in their walled garden.
And the sad as fuck part is that it's working. You see people criticize game-key cards, and their solution is that they are just gonna buy digital for everything from now on. Congrats, you did exactly what Nintendo wanted to do. Consumers will gladly sign away their rights because the option of not buying the game in the first place doesn't exist in their mind. And publishers take advantage of this laziness and weaponize it against physical.
