Organizations ISFE and Ipsos MORI polled European gamers and got their opinion about the console, which only works with digital copies. 60% of respondents said they were unlikely to buy a gaming system that does not play physical media. The data covers the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Gamers are increasingly downloading major releases rather than buying them in boxes. In June, digital game tracker GSD noted that during the first quarter of this year, AAA titles were sold predominantly in digital format. Among them are Assassin's Creed, Battlefield, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Tom Clancy's and Red Dead Redemption. The share of purchases of games of these franchises in digital stores in the UK - 56%, France - 47%, Germany (including Switzerland and Austria) - 50%, Spain (plus Portugal) - 35%, Italy - 33%.
Interestingly, the data weakly coincides with the interest in the console without a drive. According to an Ipsos MORI survey, 17% of UK gamers are βlikely to buy a digital system,β compared to 12% in France and 11% in Germany. In Spain and Italy, only 6% of respondents chose this option.
60% of gamers are "unlikely to buy a dedicated non-drive gaming device" like the Xbox One S All-Digital, and only 11% are "likely to do so".
The survey covers all gamers, including those who play on smartphones. Ipsos MORI also singled out respondents who own consoles and noted an increase in interest in digital devices. 22% of British console gamers are "likely to buy a digital system", German 19%, French 16%, while Spanish and Italian gamers 10% and 15% respectively.
In the European markets included in the study, 46% of console gamers are "unlikely to buy a dedicated gaming device without a disc drive", and 18% are "likely to do so".
The results show that the decision to include a disc drive in the Xbox Project Scarlett and PlayStation 5 was a wise one, especially in markets where boxed retail remains an important distribution channel.
European gamers were also asked why they were or weren't interested in a device without a disc drive. 27% of those surveyed said they would consider such a console because they like to keep up with new technologies. 26% of respondents believe that the lack of a drive will make the system smaller, while 19% - that such a console will be cheaper. In addition, 19% think a digital product would be useful because physical games take up too much space in the home. Plastic pollution is also cited as a strong reason for the industry to switch to such devices, with 21% of respondents indicating that this is a reason for them to move away from physical editions. Other reasons include having a digital collection (18%), game subscriptions (10%), a preference for multiplayer titles (19%), and the fact that discs and drives sometimes break down (17%).
For those gamers who are against buying a console without a disc drive, the main attraction of traditional systems is associated with a slow Internet connection (11%) and possession of a collection of physical titles (10%). 10% of gamers in the survey said they enjoy buying cheaper used games, and 6% said they enjoy being able to sell or trade their games after playing them. Other reasons include wanting to play their existing physical copies in the future (9%), being able to lend them to other people (4%), watching DVDs and Blu-rays on the device (7%), download restrictions (4%), and fear that can happen to the collection if the console breaks (8%).
Among console gamers, the main attraction of a system without a drive is that they already have a digital collection (27%), they are already subscribed to services (19%), they mainly play multiplayer projects (19%), they believe that it will reduce the cost the console (18%) or reduce its size (17%) and lead to a reduction in plastic pollution (17%).
While the main arguments of console gamers against the device are the possession of a collection of physical copies (19%), the desire to play their current physical editions in the future (17%), the ability to buy cheaper second-hand copies (15%), and also sell / trade games (15%) or lend them to friends and family (14%).
Source: 3dnews.ru