With a push toward digital-only games, is physical media going extinct?

In the modern age of gaming, it is not hard to notice that big gaming companies such as Sony and Microsoft are focusing on digital-only games more than physical ones. While physical copies still have demand among gamers, especially hobbyists and collectors, their future in gaming looks quite uncertain.

Although digital-only games are much more cost-effective and easier to update and patch from the backend, they also have shortcomings. In this article, we will look into all the positives and negatives of both options and theorize if physical media in gaming is actually on its way to extinction.

Disclaimer: This article is subjective and is solely based on the writer's opinions.

Back during the golden age of arcades, gamers had to go out of their houses to play video games. The pattern started witnessing change with the advancement in the gaming world.

First came the disc and cartridges that turned the hobby into an indoor activity. After that, when digital options hit the market, gaming saw another wave of change as it became portable. Right now, anyone anywhere can play games to their heart's content.

Innovations in digital technology have had a vital role in this transition. Publishing games on digital platforms has made the media the most accessible it has ever been.

However, this massive transition to the digital-only gamesformat has also raised many concerns, the most severe among them being the topic of ownership rights and game preservation.

Another glaring con is that digital copies cannot be shared or resold in most cases, making them far less flexible than physical copies. Its dependency on internet connectivity has also been a distasteful quality for many.

However, physical copies aren’t devoid of downsides