As the video game world heads towards a digital future, don’t expect it in the next generation of Playstation. It seems Sony still has plans for the retail space for the inevitable Playstation 4, if recent comments by the Head of Sony UK Fergal Gara with MCV are led to be believed:
We’d love to see as many retailers as possible maintain their interest in servicing the space. 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.
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. So what we’re seeing is not really a surprise, a bit of a readjustment if you like and it isn’t just happening to the specialists on the High Street. There is a bit of a reappraisal around space and the commitment from other retailers.
Companies such as EA are already proclaiming the death of the physical copy and the video game retail sector, but if Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are all placing emphasis on retail in the next generation, does that make the digital point mute? It doesn’t because the change will be gradual and take some time, but it also means that an all-digital future will arrive anytime soon. Yes, Sony is pushing the digital space with the disastrous PSP Go, the push for publishing all Playstation Vita games and the recent purchase of Gaikai, but retail support is still important seeing the digital space hasn’t become the popular space many want it to be.
