NO MORE STORES Gerry McEvoy looks at the Shift from Physical to Digital sales
P
hysical media stores are on their way out. All those big name chain stores, which have legal departments so I won’t name them, are, to quote Dog Soldiers, boned.
Don’t get me wrong here. Those big chains have got at least a decade of slow death left in them before they are replaced by specialist collector stores, similar to the vinyl stores of today.
Digital distribution is swiftly devouring the physical retail market. Year on year more consumers are moving to digital products. Year on year more of the media production companies are moving to solely digital distribution.
How shall we get our fix of xenophobic massacres? How shall we slice our fictional fruit? How shall we hurl young fowl against objects with all our might?
Everything from films to our beloved tabletop RPGs have become more focused around internet sales than physical sales. Check out DriveThruRPG.com sometime and you’ll see the massive amount of games companies that have gone digital rather than try to break into the physical retail market.
Digital distribution.
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How shall we get our fix of xenophobic massacres? “
Making a modern media product, be it a movie, an album or a game is not cheap. Even when completed there are still a lot of costs to be considered; shipping& handling, disc manufacture, printing etc. Digital distribution costs are comparatively negligible.
Apple managed to ingrain, into the public consciousness, the usefulness of digital distribution with iTunes and their app stores for their various devices. Services like Netflix and the many television network streaming services have gotten the notion that you no longer need a television to watch your favourite shows out there too.
It is simply cheaper and more profitable.
Game streaming services are growing rapidly; Onlive and Gaikai are
Gerry McEvoy “I am made of victory with a slight tinge of epic and a twist of pure rock and roll” Gerry is currently setting up a new business yet still finds time to be a keyboard warrior, gamer and writer on all things tech. Prone to doing crazy things for charity. @Legendgerry on twitter
currently the two biggest names in the industry and the console industry has taken notice. Gamestop are moving into the streaming market with a service likely to be debuted later this year and it looks to be a smart move for any business plan-