I can't believe we're even having to discuss this, but here we are. The way things are going with physical game releases is a total joke. DOOM: The Dark Ages is the latest example, where the PS5 disc contains only 85 MB of data, and you're forced to download the rest of the game. And it's not just this one - we're seeing this more and more! What's the point of even calling it a "physical edition" if the game isn't even on the disc?
This whole trend of selling us "physical" discs that are basically just a license to download is a slap in the face to consumers. For years, the whole point of buying a physical copy was that you owned it - you could install & play offline, lend it out, sell it, being indepent from company servers, whatever. Now, we're getting discs that are almost completely empty, and we're still expected to download the whole game. It's honestly insane.
Producing these near-empty discs, shipping them around the world, all for what? So we can still download the game? It's such a waste of resources, and it completely ignores the whole "save the planet" conversation that's going on in other industries. It's like they don't care about anything but getting our money.
I also don't understand how anyone can be okay with this or even defend this kind of big-corpo bullshit. I've seen so many comments online where people are straight-up saying they're avoiding games like Indiana Jones because they don't want inclomplete physical editions or a digital version of a licence key for rent. And who can blame them? If you're a collector or someone who actually cares about owning a physical product, this is a huge letdown. These games are no longer a "complete product," and publishers know it.
And yet, they still push forward with this nonsense, hoping people won't notice or care. The whole point of a physical edition should be that it's the complete game, all on the disc, at least a playable version 1.0. If they can't manage that, then stop pretending these are physical copies at all. They're just glorified download codes. It's frustrating, and it's only going to push more people away from supporting physical media. I understand that their aim is to make people think digital-only is the way forward, but this would lead to a dark future with fewer consumer rights.
If this continues, publishers are hopefully going to regret it. Nobody should going to want to buy a product that's basically worthless when it comes down to it. So yeah, I'm pissed, and I'm sure many others feel the same way. I just hope we can get some change before this becomes the new norm.
And seriously, what is so great about handing over your money and your rights to corporations, becoming fully dependent on their online systems and services? How is that something we should be excited about? These stores are practically unchallenged, and once physical media continues to fade away, they'll have the power to dictate prices however they want. Who's going to be so proud of having everything digital when big-corpo control the entire market, even more than now, and consumers are completely at their mercy?