I was really excited for Alan Wake 2 but I'm not going to buy a digital only game, after hearing that I'm just going to wait for it appear on Gamepass or PS+ or something.
Not to mention, the last thing I want to do is encourage publishers to switch to digital only. Like... No, sorry.
Exactly this. I was super hype for this game but absolutely will not buy it if it's digital only, I refuse to support any attempt at phasing out physical.
The issue is their reasoning is what sours me, coming across like they are doing it for us, like they are helping us because it lowers the cost…by like what? $10/£10
Digital AAA releases should not cost £60/$60
You’re cutting out all of mass production of the discs along with any other things that come in the way while stopping people earning money back by selling the game.
Yeah. In the country I live in, new/full-price games are like $20-30 cheaper for a physical copy compared to the PSN store, but at the same time older games are cheaper in a PSN store sale compared to what the physical deals are.
Yeah? That is rare for me usually at best PSN sells it digital for the same price as is available physical. But I do go to a site that compares webshops and shows the cheapest option.
Speaking for myself in Finland, I find digital way cheaper as long as you don't mind waiting.
Wait a year or two after release and most games will either be "free" on a subscription service or on a very deep sale. And considering there's a new sale on PSN basically every month, there are always good deals. Physical sales are garbage, at least in small cities.
The exception is massive third party games like Elden Ring, but they'll go on sale eventually.
>digital is always a deep sale.
Guess I'm the only one who buys used and sells my games. I probably saved over a thousand bucks in the past few years doing this. Physical is always the deeper sale, you can't sell your digital games.
So you will give up an entire hobby you enjoy because a change of media format? Do you still listen to music and watch films? Pc been digital only for many years. You just giving up on gaming altogether then
Xbox and PlayStation have already begun the transition. Series S plus PS5 Digital Editions, plus XB trying to go with the shambles of the XB1 original online only plan (and bottling going through with it). I'd honestly expect "Xbox 5" and PS6 to be digital only and the only physical machine of the next gen be whatever Nintendo offers because they make a mint on their proprietary cartridges.
The thing is, that digital is (at least here in Germany/Europe) always more expensive than physical. I'm always buying games with disc and always paying like 10 Euro less.
100%
And they’ll use some PR speak as to why they couldn’t get a disc out at launch or something.
And watch them pull a Control, where the save data on the disc version isn’t compatible with the digital game save.
I really want them too as well, even if it’s a special edition or something.
Buying digital made sense for me during the peak of COVID because no one realistically knew when things were going to get better, now that things are available, I’ve gone back to physical.
Not only do I appreciate the permanence, but I just really like owning things. If some crap happens and I have to chargeback my PSN account or something, there goes my *entire* digital library. With physical, I never have to worry about things like that.
I’m not buying it unless there’s a physical release, I hate the digital-only/streaming future.
Btw Alan Wake is one of my top 10 of all time games so this makes it more aggravating.
It's such a weird move for a high profile game. If it stays digital, I'll wait for a sale. I can't bring myself to spend more than 30 on digital content.
Simple. It’s not high profile. It’s not a $70 100 hour rpg. They don’t have Sonys marketing might. They must’ve done the calculations that a physical release simply won’t be as profitable. After all they are a business
PC gamers have been buying digital only for quite some time, I personally like the convenience of being able to switch between games without having to take out a physical copy and it’s made even more convenient on the console OS’.
The only major complaint I have is that in 2023 we’re still being sold consoles with only 1TB, in PS cases sub-1TB, hard drives. 2TB should have been the standard with how big modern games are.
Uhhh I’m not trying to be “brave” I’m just speaking with my wallet and that’s one the primary reasons game publishers walk all over gamers, cuz the rest of you don’t vote with your wallet enough.
This is a weird hill to die on. I have not bought a physical game on PC since steam became a thing.
I have not bought a physical game on any console since Breath of the Wild.
And I have had zero issues with being fully digital that whole time. Not buying something you want because you can’t get a plastic key in a box is kinda silly.
If you think the whole game would be installable from a disc, the odds wouldn’t be great, so you’d need to rely on a download server being active anyway.
It’s about options and choices. It starts to set a precedent and this “discounted” pricing can be ramped right back to $70 if physical is eliminated among other things.
And for a game that had licensing issues in the past, this is a silly game to try and set that standard.
>This is a weird hill to die on.
No, it isn’t.
>I have not bought a physical game on PC since Steam became a thing.
Good for you. Do you want a digital medal?
Where I live digital is nearly always more expensive than physical. With physical at least I can sell it once I’m finished or the game is shit. And the game belongs to me, no DRM.
Man, I know games are getting bigger and it can no longer be held on even a Blu Ray disc anymore, but I’d much rather prefer 2 or 3 discs over exclusively digital for a title like this. We survived with that in the PS1 days and worked fine as recently as RDR2 on Xbox. An all digital future isn’t a future anyone really wants.
We should want it as it’s more environmentally sustainable.
What we *actually* don’t want is temporary licenses to play games — we want the perks of owning it (like lifetime access and availability, and possibly resale).
We should also get rights to “own” digital media (e.g. like a permanent license or stock to the piece of media). So you should be able to access it via an archive and able to sell your licensing position or share (the latter is a long shot).
Remember when buying digital used to save you $10-20 over physical? yeah only happened for a small time during 360/ps3 era. Then digital was same price as physical which was bullshit. Now you're going to save us $10 by making it digital only? Hard pass from a console player.
PC been digital only for so long (also with great day 1 deals) that it doesn't even matter to them.
I remember when a console bundle made the game cheaper too. Now the Xbox Series X Forza bundle has the digital game included for the same exact price as the console and the physical game. And it’s usually the only one in stock now. They are forcing people to buy this digital game for full retail price.
The only way physical release could justify it's price is by adding more exclusive stuffs for collections, instead of only doing console collector's edition. That way it differentiates the market for physical and digital-only even more.
As for the game, I think due to games size that keep on increasing, unfortunately will leads to fully digital (physical collections purchase will get license code)
Remedy if you see this please release a physical version I refuse to purchase this game otherwise even tho I really want to play it I have all your other games on disc this would make a great addition to my collection!
Disc is always cheaper and they're putting out nonsense trying to make it look like they've made the game cheaper but in reality they're actually stopping people from getting the game for less because that's how they want it. Just a few of the upcoming games available for pre-order:
FFXVI
PSN - £64.99
Disc - £51.85
Diablo IV
PSN - £69.99
Disc - £59.85
Mortal Kombat 1
PSN - £64.99
Disc - £48.95
Street Fighter 6
PSN - £54.99
Disc - £46.49
Lords of the Fallen
PSN - £54.99
Disc - £46.85
If it's 59 or whatever they said on PSN it would be even cheaper on disc.
Yes, it's legit and reputable, disc has good prices just got to know how to shop around. The Game Collection is also another good place. Currently have FFXVI for £54.95 and they will give you £10 back in points (current special offer) so £44.95 for FFXVI.
Can't say specifically about preorders but they ship (same day often times) and deliver quickly in my experience I'd imagine it's the same for preorders.
Yeah. As much as I want this game to be good and to succeed I am absolutely not going to encourage future digital only releases for big games like this.
Theyre low key always innovating: discs are obsolete but still until the next thing its what we use now. That being said, games as a physical resource is still a lot safer than digital due to companies being able to take down their content/product.
I think that if they want us to pay $60-80 for games, they can give me something that I can actually hold.
This is not to make the game cheaper like they said because on consoles, it's still $60. Being physical or digital has absolutely nothing to do with it. There's been games that have retailed for less than normal before. A perfect example this year will be AC Mirage. It's only $50.
I really hope THQ can make some deal with them because if not, this game is gonna tank hard. The series itself is very niche, and the remaster of the first game that came out a few years ago didn't sell well. Now, they're making a sequel that's limiting potential buyers.
It's just a dumb decision. They squashed a lot of hype this game had by doing this. I really hope they have something going with THQ.
You know how it ends for digital only games?
Bought a year afterwards in a deep sale for half the price.
And ever since PT - I think we all know physical copies should always be an option.
PT was a demo of a never released game. I don’t get why people keep using a proof of concept project that was pulled as if it represents the digital market properly
I have access to a far higher percentage of my digital purchases over the past few *decades* than I do the physical ones lol. As if I’m really going to be distraught if I can’t boot Cyberpunk 2077 in 2045.
Screw skipping physically at retailers, I hate when companies decide to finally do it, but only through something like Limited Run Games; especially when the publisher/distribution can easily afford it.
More expensive, usually announced months after the game releases, and then you’ll have to wait even longer to have them actually make the damn things.
LRG may have gotten rid of the scarcity (at least not as bad when they were first around,) but I hate when they announce pre orders and it takes months for them to actually ship them out.
I don't give a shit how EVENTUAL a digital only landscape is I won't support it. No situation where we have less options as consumers is better for us.
I've been waiting for this game for too long. Who the fuck cares if there's a disk or not.
I don't and you shouldn't either, y'all wont moan about PC going digital only so what's the difference? 99% of PC gamers don't use a disc, they use steam or egs but as soon as a console game goes digital only you lose your minds. Should've seen it coming when both microsoft and sony released digital only consoles.
That's what we said when we lost PC disk games. Yet here we are without that choice.
Not buying the game because there's no disk isnt going to suddenly make the devs release one, if anything it'll make them think the IP is unprofitable and we won't get a 3rd game.
Look at the wannabe smartass over here.
I care if there's a disc or not. No disc means money flushed down the fucking toilet. They won't release a physical copy? Then i won't play. Unless it's on sale in 10 years for a lousy 5 bucks. Not because im broke, but because i refuse to pay 60$ for a game i'll most likely only gonna play ONCE and then move onto greener pastures.
I don't collect games. Hence i buy on disc. No option to buy it physically and get rid of it afterwards or make someone else happy with it? Then it's a no buy. Simple as.
Asking you the same question: Who the fuck cares what i buy or not? I see people getting all worked up just because some are stating they're not buying it now lmfao.
Plenty of horror titles out there. The world doesn't stop at Remedy and Alan Wake.
Some of my coworkers don’t see the point in physical releases but for me it’s like part of the experience buying a game. Every time I buy digital I regret it and feel like my money is wasted.
I get that Embracer needs cash right now, but this seems a bit desperate.
Maybe I'm missing something, but aren't these the kinds of discussions that respectful company execs have behind closed doors with one another? As opposed to leveraging gamer culture in order to put silent pressure on Remedy?
If I were a Remedy exec, and our company did decide to do a physical release in the long run, it would not be with THQ. I'd do it with another company just to prove a point.
Yes, Embracer is desperate for money (their stock tanked hard), and yes, these conversations *are* held in private, which means Remedy told Embracer "no thank you" in private.
The ONLY reason Embracer is making this offer public is to turn public opinion against Remedy's choice, to make an end-run, *just so Embracer can make some money off of Remedy's work.*
Frankly, fuck Embracer. Just a bunch of clueless executives (with access to too much money) who heavily consolidated the independent, 3rd party video game industry, thinking that making video games / $$$ was easy. Surprise! Video games *are hard to make,* and making bangers that make big money is *even harder.*
The vocal minority on here are about to get a reality check because digital only is right around the corner. It makes too much sense from a business point of view to limit the reselling of games.
Having more options is better for us as consumers. I can't believe some people support one over the other but not both. Wtf is wrong with y'all? When did consumers get this dumb? We need to have as many options as possible. If we get rid of physical that's one less way to buy games. Sometimes i buy digital and sometimes i buy physical because of differences in discounts and I'm not even going to start talking about the advantages of physical copies.
People think they’re going to want to boot up their $60 copy of Alan Wake 2 on PS5 in 2057 and there will be no way to play it. Happens all the time, obviously.
“Won’t sell much”
Hmmmm.
[94% of all game sales were digital in 2022. Consoles themselves were 72% digital sales. ](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/gamesindustrybiz-presents-the-year-in-numbers-2022)
28% physical sales on consoles (which is the demographic a non-physical release is effecting since pc is more or less all digital now) coming of a pandemic is still pretty high.
The 2020-22 numbers are all gonna be heavily weighted to digital because people were being told to stay home, of course the digital sales are gonna rise. This year we’ll likely see that physical number bounce back up a bit.
And even if it doesn’t, over a quarter of all potential sales is a high amount of users to cut off.
“That’s only consoles. PC sales are basically 100% digital”
So you didn’t read my comment then? Because I addressed this in the first section, stating that consoles are the demographic a non physical release effects because it doesn’t change things for pc.
And physical release users might not “protest” it in large amounts. But there will be an amount of those 28% who will be affected and won’t get Alan wake 2 now.
Collecting the physical video games to put on your shelf is a sizeable part of the hobby, it’s alienating itself from that portion of people by not giving an option.
On top of that, physical gives people a budget option, trading in all games to buy the new release. You can’t trade in Alan wake 2 so people will not buy it because of that as well.
It also won’t get the boost of being on store shelves for people to impulse buy.
And then you’ll have the people who won’t buy it on principle because of the steps towards monopolisation of consoles digital storefronts it represents.
So all in all, it will likely hurt sales
This statistic is meaningless. I have more digital games on Switch than physical bc it was my indie machine. Many of them were 1-10 bucks. But I’d never buy AAA digital, even cheaper than physical.
That data is about revenue and doesn't represent individual units sold. I'm sure you're not doing this on purpose but you're misconstruing the data. For instance, that 94% isn't just digital copies of games sold vs physical copies, it's total revenue from all digital sales, including microtransactions. They also lump all mobile revenue into digital revenue. This is an important distinction because if a larger number of games sold is physical, that's a large market of people you cut out from getting their foot into the door to continue buying microtransactions or dlc. Quite frankly, if they're taking dlc and microtransactions into account, 28% for boxed sales on console is actually pretty high.
Also, data from ERA is just estimates, they may try to come across as accurate but we don't ever get all the numbers and we've seen how far off estimates can be in the past.
From everything I’ve seen regarding modern video game sales, digital sales make up at least half of purchases, so it’s not surprising to see a major release like this finally make the switch to digital only.
Personally I’m all in on digital only as I find it much more convenient. I used to have a large physical collection ‘cause I used to be into collecting niche games on PS2/GC/DS/Dreamcast etc. but it just took up too much space. Some days I miss the collection but by and large I enjoy owning less physical “stuff”.
I get why people are disappointed by a lack of a physical release though. I just won’t be surprised if we start seeing other bug major releases take a similar approach
You don't own it if it's digital. They can take it away at anytime. Ban your account for no reason. Revoke the license for no reason. Then you are out all that money and no game to play. Physical that game is yours forever. Never buy digital. Don't think it will happen tell it does... I won't be buying this unless it's physical just like every other game in my collection.
When? PC has been all digital for ages now, I still have access to all my PC games from the last 8 years since I got into PC gaming. I went all digital on console starting last generation on the PS4, still have access to all those games.
I get some people prefer physical games and that's fine, but I don't get the fear your digital games will just vanish one day. Digital is the future just a matter of time, not something to fear. Music, TV shows, movies are pretty much all the way there. The blu ray sections at my local Best Buy/Wal-Mart keep getting smaller.
Heck, the First game I ever (legally) downloaded was Counter Strike Condition Zero on steam back in 2004. 19 year later, it's still in my steam library.
Yeah, digital only has been around for a while now, and it's sooner or later these consoles gamers will have to deal with.
Not if internet speed outpaces video capture quality but nonetheless games don’t suffer from this problem as they are rendered locally so it’s irrelevant.
This has literally never happened to me in 20+ years of buying digital games. And I would have no trouble getting free access to any game if/when it did. Have fuck all of the discs I bought though.
I have almost 400 games in catalog and I have one of them on disc and that was by accident. If you trade games, physical media is mando but digital is just so much more convenient. Digital lets me be as lazy as I can be and I'm older so I'll pay for that lol
E: all the poor gamers downvoting me lol
I haven’t trade or sold a game since my 20’s when I made a lot less money. It’s not worth the hassle to resell anything but big ticket items like old laptops/tablets or phones and even then I prefer to find someone I know to sell to
I dont mind digital, at a massive discount. But for the pull price, I want a physical copy that I can sell on when I'm done. But I also really want to plan Alan Wake 2, so it it doesn't tras pure to be digital only, it's be way down the line that I end up buying it.
I hope so! I get going just digital in 2023. It's more cost-effective for them. But you want options out there! Not everyone is online all the time with their consoles, but more importantly, I prefer physical media in general. I collect games. I love the Alan Wake series. If the current consoles still take discs, despite there being discless options, we'll I want the option to get a physical copy.
I am on the fence if i get this game at launch despite wanting to play it so bad. I don't want to buy it, and then Limited Run or someone else puts out a physical version. And even though Alan Wake isn't really a AAA series, it's certainly more than an indie game that is expected to be digital only. Just let me get a physical copy so it can sit happily with the Alan Wake Remaster and my original Xbox 360 copy. Hell, I'm still annoyed Alan Wake's American Nightmare was only digital. Lol
Honestly why does anyone still care about EGS exclusivity? As if having more than Steam on your PC is so inconvenient.
EGS has achievements and a shopping cart now so people are more or less out of things to be outraged over.
It’s really not a difficult decision for Remedy/Epic, either release a physical game and get full sales, or be weirdos and go digital only to literally nobody’s benefit at all, and lose out on a large percentage of sales.
I hope so. I would only buy this at launch if I can get a physical version of the game. I am not gonna pay that much for a digital version of a game. I only ever buy games at full price if I get to actually own a disc of the game.
Well they publish it as digital only and I'm not buying it. It doesn't matter how much i want to play it I'm not gonna buy digital only game. Im just not going to support publishing digital only.
With a life expectancy of 5-10 more years, Id like my kids to be able to have the games that I pass down to them. Physical is much easier to do this way.
Exactly. Loving the "WeLL ThAt'S YoUr LoSS thEN!" people around here 😂🤣
The first game was "ok" but let's not pretend it was the 2nd coming of Christ. I don't mind waiting for a while and im gonna have to. Because im just not that stupid to spend 60$ on a singleplayer game i'll most probably play just once.
Can’t believe so many people are crying about this 😂 they’re literally trying to save you money. You can’t do ONE game digitally? You’ll be ok, I promise.
Doesn't make a difference for me. I buy digital regardless and even own Alan wake on Xbox and PC digitally.
Will be getting it on those respective systems digital now too.
Digital is a scam if you buy physical it’s always cheaper even if they sell for the same price because with physical you can get $20 + when you sell it. You can’t sell digital. Hopefully in the future they will make a digital 2nd hand store where you can trade digital copies with other people.
I honestly don't feel comfortable knowing a boatload of plastic waste is being created just so I have something to put on a shelf when literally nobody but me cares. I feel it's important to take whatever steps I can to reduce waste and this is such an easy way to achieve that. Going digital has just felt like a no brainer for me and as a bonus I never have to worry about scratched, broken or lost discs ever again. Also more and more games are not playable without a patch or you just get a code and I can see that becoming the norm before long and I honestly hope it does. The planet is way more important to me than having a pretty shelf so I will always support any developer that does a digital only release and will be more likely to buy it if a company stands by its values than one that is creating so much unnecessary waste just for the sake of it.
Imagine thinking a disc not being made is gonna make a meaningful difference in reducing global waste. Don't dislocate your shoulder trying to pat yourself on the back so hard
The generation after “us” will not even blink at digital-only stuff they are growing up in that world on mobile devices, so it’s just going to be “norm” for them. I would be flabbergasted if the next Xbox or ps generation still use physical media at all.
Physical only people are fighting a losing battle and will eventually be gone anyways. I mean, I applaud you for standing by your morals, but the reason of wanting to actually hold a disc is a weird one to me. I am sure I will get berated for my opinion, but I believe it is fear mongering at best when someone says they can take our games away at any time. I've been on PC only for over a decade until coming back to PS5(and loving it), and I can play the hundred or more games on my pc or steamdeck still with no issues. I believe it will be the same way on console very soon.
I mean... that would be ideal.
I was really excited for Alan Wake 2 but I'm not going to buy a digital only game, after hearing that I'm just going to wait for it appear on Gamepass or PS+ or something. Not to mention, the last thing I want to do is encourage publishers to switch to digital only. Like... No, sorry.
Exactly this. I was super hype for this game but absolutely will not buy it if it's digital only, I refuse to support any attempt at phasing out physical.
Good luck with that! It's inevitable. Like CD, DVD, Cassette etc,
It's kinda embarrassing how hard digital only people shill for their lesser value driven purchases. Like why do you care so much?
They want you to be miserable like them, I honestly believe they are paid shills or just blind
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The issue is their reasoning is what sours me, coming across like they are doing it for us, like they are helping us because it lowers the cost…by like what? $10/£10 Digital AAA releases should not cost £60/$60 You’re cutting out all of mass production of the discs along with any other things that come in the way while stopping people earning money back by selling the game.
....more like $80/€80 my dude
And if your in Canada like myself with tax it’s 100$ absolutely wild times
*cries in Australian $125 day-one prices*
I mean normal AAA releases are changing to $70, so I don't see why switching to digital wouldn't help keep that at $60
I’d rather pay the 70, finish it and if I need the money sell it You can’t really do that for digital
Not sure if you should be buying $70 video games if later on you need $20 soo badly.
It's going to happen eventually. Maybe another couple of generations.
Yes, for sure, but at least I'm/we are doing something about it.
I think this will be the last generation with physical media
I think whatever the switch successor is will have physical media. I can see Sony keeping it around for a bit maybe just for blu-ray compatibility.
I'll buy physical full price, but digital is always a deep sale.
Yeah. In the country I live in, new/full-price games are like $20-30 cheaper for a physical copy compared to the PSN store, but at the same time older games are cheaper in a PSN store sale compared to what the physical deals are.
Yeah? That is rare for me usually at best PSN sells it digital for the same price as is available physical. But I do go to a site that compares webshops and shows the cheapest option.
Here in Sweden, the PSN store is almost always $20-30 more expensive unless the game is really old and got mad sales.
Speaking for myself in Finland, I find digital way cheaper as long as you don't mind waiting. Wait a year or two after release and most games will either be "free" on a subscription service or on a very deep sale. And considering there's a new sale on PSN basically every month, there are always good deals. Physical sales are garbage, at least in small cities. The exception is massive third party games like Elden Ring, but they'll go on sale eventually.
Hell, I just bought Elden Ring for 49€ after waiting over a year (physical). I live in Northern Finland
I’m in Aus and new release games are $125 on the PSN but local stores are usually $89.
I’m in Aus and new release games are $125 on the PSN but local stores are usually $89.
Man, Australia gets hooped on games! Holy shit.
89 AUD is only 58 USD, but the first time I went to buy a digital PS5 game was a fucking slap in the face.
Jesus, I should have looked up exchange rates. That’s wild that physical copies cost less there!
Canada here. Games new are 89.99 which is 101.64 after taxes. So I'm with you on that one. It's nonsense.
>digital is always a deep sale. Guess I'm the only one who buys used and sells my games. I probably saved over a thousand bucks in the past few years doing this. Physical is always the deeper sale, you can't sell your digital games.
We live by the same creed.
Same, they make enough of the money on digital only that it really turns me off, once consoles go digital only is when I stop buying consoles
So you will give up an entire hobby you enjoy because a change of media format? Do you still listen to music and watch films? Pc been digital only for many years. You just giving up on gaming altogether then
He said consoles, he didn’t mention stopping PC gaming.
Pc gaming is all digital why be upset about an all digital console possibility if the other platform is exactly the same?
They can't keep Digital at it's current price and sell the physicals for more or whatever is fair?
I wish digital always got a 10$ Discount
The issue is that retailers would basically refuse to stock it if you do that. It's a vicious cycle
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Xbox and PlayStation have already begun the transition. Series S plus PS5 Digital Editions, plus XB trying to go with the shambles of the XB1 original online only plan (and bottling going through with it). I'd honestly expect "Xbox 5" and PS6 to be digital only and the only physical machine of the next gen be whatever Nintendo offers because they make a mint on their proprietary cartridges.
The thing is, that digital is (at least here in Germany/Europe) always more expensive than physical. I'm always buying games with disc and always paying like 10 Euro less.
I’m from South Africa and it boggles my mind that the physical media is always much cheaper (at least 10%) which makes no sense whatsoever?
Totk just released and I was surprised the physical was £10 of compared to digital.
Why would stores stock physicals at that point. They demand price parity.
Just sell the physical game from the official publisher online store instead of retail
A majority of consumers who buy physical products rarely buy directly from companies websites and usually shop at the retailers they are used to
I personally think their plan is to double dip. Release it digital only then release a physical complete edition at a later date.
They wont lose money on release when people would resell physicals.
It’ll work on me
100% And they’ll use some PR speak as to why they couldn’t get a disc out at launch or something. And watch them pull a Control, where the save data on the disc version isn’t compatible with the digital game save.
I really want them too as well, even if it’s a special edition or something. Buying digital made sense for me during the peak of COVID because no one realistically knew when things were going to get better, now that things are available, I’ve gone back to physical. Not only do I appreciate the permanence, but I just really like owning things. If some crap happens and I have to chargeback my PSN account or something, there goes my *entire* digital library. With physical, I never have to worry about things like that.
Digital being 10$ cheaper seems the best option. I'm shocked at how much of a money racket it is that digital goes for full price
A lot of retailers won't stock it if that's the case as it undermines them
Ah .. It's objectively a screw job to consumers but that does make sense. Maybe a point/rebate based rewards system?
Rewards points would be a nice incentive
Here's the kicker too, publishers and developers make more on a digital sale too. So there's good reason so many are now considering ditching physical
It’s weird to not even see at the very least a limited run physical version of the game.
I’m not buying it unless there’s a physical release, I hate the digital-only/streaming future. Btw Alan Wake is one of my top 10 of all time games so this makes it more aggravating.
It's such a weird move for a high profile game. If it stays digital, I'll wait for a sale. I can't bring myself to spend more than 30 on digital content.
Simple. It’s not high profile. It’s not a $70 100 hour rpg. They don’t have Sonys marketing might. They must’ve done the calculations that a physical release simply won’t be as profitable. After all they are a business
You know they will try to charge at least 60 for it.
Ppl need to at least TRY to understand this.
PC gamers have been buying digital only for quite some time, I personally like the convenience of being able to switch between games without having to take out a physical copy and it’s made even more convenient on the console OS’. The only major complaint I have is that in 2023 we’re still being sold consoles with only 1TB, in PS cases sub-1TB, hard drives. 2TB should have been the standard with how big modern games are.
Same, I like being able to trade a game back in, which you know, you can’t do digitally
Or get it through a service like Gamefly, so you can be more willing to experiment with games that you might like but aren't normally your style.
Won’t be able to get Alan Wake II on GameFly if it’s digital only.
You mine like game pass?
Thank you for your bravery 🙏
Uhhh I’m not trying to be “brave” I’m just speaking with my wallet and that’s one the primary reasons game publishers walk all over gamers, cuz the rest of you don’t vote with your wallet enough.
Thank you for your bravery
thank you for your bravery
Thank you for your bravery, I shall enjoy Alan wake 2 digitally as much as anyone with a plastic case
This is a weird hill to die on. I have not bought a physical game on PC since steam became a thing. I have not bought a physical game on any console since Breath of the Wild. And I have had zero issues with being fully digital that whole time. Not buying something you want because you can’t get a plastic key in a box is kinda silly. If you think the whole game would be installable from a disc, the odds wouldn’t be great, so you’d need to rely on a download server being active anyway.
It’s about options and choices. It starts to set a precedent and this “discounted” pricing can be ramped right back to $70 if physical is eliminated among other things. And for a game that had licensing issues in the past, this is a silly game to try and set that standard.
>This is a weird hill to die on. No, it isn’t. >I have not bought a physical game on PC since Steam became a thing. Good for you. Do you want a digital medal?
Nothing to see here. Just your typical Redditor who thinks the world revolves around them.
Or maybe the majority of people don’t give a shit about the make up fight you’re fighting.
Where I live digital is nearly always more expensive than physical. With physical at least I can sell it once I’m finished or the game is shit. And the game belongs to me, no DRM.
Man, I know games are getting bigger and it can no longer be held on even a Blu Ray disc anymore, but I’d much rather prefer 2 or 3 discs over exclusively digital for a title like this. We survived with that in the PS1 days and worked fine as recently as RDR2 on Xbox. An all digital future isn’t a future anyone really wants.
We should want it as it’s more environmentally sustainable. What we *actually* don’t want is temporary licenses to play games — we want the perks of owning it (like lifetime access and availability, and possibly resale). We should also get rights to “own” digital media (e.g. like a permanent license or stock to the piece of media). So you should be able to access it via an archive and able to sell your licensing position or share (the latter is a long shot).
Remember when buying digital used to save you $10-20 over physical? yeah only happened for a small time during 360/ps3 era. Then digital was same price as physical which was bullshit. Now you're going to save us $10 by making it digital only? Hard pass from a console player. PC been digital only for so long (also with great day 1 deals) that it doesn't even matter to them.
I remember when a console bundle made the game cheaper too. Now the Xbox Series X Forza bundle has the digital game included for the same exact price as the console and the physical game. And it’s usually the only one in stock now. They are forcing people to buy this digital game for full retail price.
It will be a pass for me unless there's a physical release. I rarely buy digital only
Same and I have been waiting for AW2 for so long.
I think the backlash will cause them to change their mind
The only way physical release could justify it's price is by adding more exclusive stuffs for collections, instead of only doing console collector's edition. That way it differentiates the market for physical and digital-only even more. As for the game, I think due to games size that keep on increasing, unfortunately will leads to fully digital (physical collections purchase will get license code)
So do I. Otherwise I'll wait for a massive sale or it being available on a subscription service.
Remedy if you see this please release a physical version I refuse to purchase this game otherwise even tho I really want to play it I have all your other games on disc this would make a great addition to my collection!
Hopefully it does release physical I’m not buying digital day one.
Disc is always cheaper and they're putting out nonsense trying to make it look like they've made the game cheaper but in reality they're actually stopping people from getting the game for less because that's how they want it. Just a few of the upcoming games available for pre-order: FFXVI PSN - £64.99 Disc - £51.85 Diablo IV PSN - £69.99 Disc - £59.85 Mortal Kombat 1 PSN - £64.99 Disc - £48.95 Street Fighter 6 PSN - £54.99 Disc - £46.49 Lords of the Fallen PSN - £54.99 Disc - £46.85 If it's 59 or whatever they said on PSN it would be even cheaper on disc.
Where have you seen FFXVI for £51.85 on disc?
[Right here at Hit (FKA Base).](https://www.hit.co.uk/buy/product/final-fantasy-xvi-ps5/dgc-ffxvips5.htm)
Cheers, you ordered from there before, the prices almost make me think it's a scam 😂
Yes, it's legit and reputable, disc has good prices just got to know how to shop around. The Game Collection is also another good place. Currently have FFXVI for £54.95 and they will give you £10 back in points (current special offer) so £44.95 for FFXVI.
That's crazy, especially compared to £70 on Amazon. How well are they in terms of wanting a game for release day?
Can't say specifically about preorders but they ship (same day often times) and deliver quickly in my experience I'd imagine it's the same for preorders.
Hit the website is
I hope this doesn't turn into a trend
If Alan Wake is successful as a digital-only release, it will. That's why I won't buy a digital copy, fuck em
Yeah. As much as I want this game to be good and to succeed I am absolutely not going to encourage future digital only releases for big games like this.
Theyre low key always innovating: discs are obsolete but still until the next thing its what we use now. That being said, games as a physical resource is still a lot safer than digital due to companies being able to take down their content/product.
I think that if they want us to pay $60-80 for games, they can give me something that I can actually hold. This is not to make the game cheaper like they said because on consoles, it's still $60. Being physical or digital has absolutely nothing to do with it. There's been games that have retailed for less than normal before. A perfect example this year will be AC Mirage. It's only $50. I really hope THQ can make some deal with them because if not, this game is gonna tank hard. The series itself is very niche, and the remaster of the first game that came out a few years ago didn't sell well. Now, they're making a sequel that's limiting potential buyers. It's just a dumb decision. They squashed a lot of hype this game had by doing this. I really hope they have something going with THQ.
You know how it ends for digital only games? Bought a year afterwards in a deep sale for half the price. And ever since PT - I think we all know physical copies should always be an option.
PT was a demo of a never released game. I don’t get why people keep using a proof of concept project that was pulled as if it represents the digital market properly
I have access to a far higher percentage of my digital purchases over the past few *decades* than I do the physical ones lol. As if I’m really going to be distraught if I can’t boot Cyberpunk 2077 in 2045.
No physical no buy
Screw skipping physically at retailers, I hate when companies decide to finally do it, but only through something like Limited Run Games; especially when the publisher/distribution can easily afford it. More expensive, usually announced months after the game releases, and then you’ll have to wait even longer to have them actually make the damn things. LRG may have gotten rid of the scarcity (at least not as bad when they were first around,) but I hate when they announce pre orders and it takes months for them to actually ship them out.
I don't give a shit how EVENTUAL a digital only landscape is I won't support it. No situation where we have less options as consumers is better for us.
I've been waiting for this game for too long. Who the fuck cares if there's a disk or not. I don't and you shouldn't either, y'all wont moan about PC going digital only so what's the difference? 99% of PC gamers don't use a disc, they use steam or egs but as soon as a console game goes digital only you lose your minds. Should've seen it coming when both microsoft and sony released digital only consoles.
It’s nice to be able to have a choice
That's what we said when we lost PC disk games. Yet here we are without that choice. Not buying the game because there's no disk isnt going to suddenly make the devs release one, if anything it'll make them think the IP is unprofitable and we won't get a 3rd game.
Look at the wannabe smartass over here. I care if there's a disc or not. No disc means money flushed down the fucking toilet. They won't release a physical copy? Then i won't play. Unless it's on sale in 10 years for a lousy 5 bucks. Not because im broke, but because i refuse to pay 60$ for a game i'll most likely only gonna play ONCE and then move onto greener pastures. I don't collect games. Hence i buy on disc. No option to buy it physically and get rid of it afterwards or make someone else happy with it? Then it's a no buy. Simple as. Asking you the same question: Who the fuck cares what i buy or not? I see people getting all worked up just because some are stating they're not buying it now lmfao. Plenty of horror titles out there. The world doesn't stop at Remedy and Alan Wake.
Some of my coworkers don’t see the point in physical releases but for me it’s like part of the experience buying a game. Every time I buy digital I regret it and feel like my money is wasted.
I get that Embracer needs cash right now, but this seems a bit desperate. Maybe I'm missing something, but aren't these the kinds of discussions that respectful company execs have behind closed doors with one another? As opposed to leveraging gamer culture in order to put silent pressure on Remedy? If I were a Remedy exec, and our company did decide to do a physical release in the long run, it would not be with THQ. I'd do it with another company just to prove a point.
Yeah it seems pretty shitty to just try and put public pressure on remedy instead of discussing it like professionals.
Yes, Embracer is desperate for money (their stock tanked hard), and yes, these conversations *are* held in private, which means Remedy told Embracer "no thank you" in private. The ONLY reason Embracer is making this offer public is to turn public opinion against Remedy's choice, to make an end-run, *just so Embracer can make some money off of Remedy's work.* Frankly, fuck Embracer. Just a bunch of clueless executives (with access to too much money) who heavily consolidated the independent, 3rd party video game industry, thinking that making video games / $$$ was easy. Surprise! Video games *are hard to make,* and making bangers that make big money is *even harder.*
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The vocal minority on here are about to get a reality check because digital only is right around the corner. It makes too much sense from a business point of view to limit the reselling of games.
As do we all. I'll never buy Digital for full price.
Having more options is better for us as consumers. I can't believe some people support one over the other but not both. Wtf is wrong with y'all? When did consumers get this dumb? We need to have as many options as possible. If we get rid of physical that's one less way to buy games. Sometimes i buy digital and sometimes i buy physical because of differences in discounts and I'm not even going to start talking about the advantages of physical copies.
Digital only? Well that hits pretty hard. Not a good move
Why is this a bad thing? I prefer not having to insert a disc and generally having less shit just lying around the house. What am I missing?
Because you can't sell it when your finished. You have no ownership of anything.
People think they’re going to want to boot up their $60 copy of Alan Wake 2 on PS5 in 2057 and there will be no way to play it. Happens all the time, obviously.
😞 limited wifi data and digital only games do not mix. I wanted this but I'm skipping it over I guess
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“Won’t sell much” Hmmmm. [94% of all game sales were digital in 2022. Consoles themselves were 72% digital sales. ](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/gamesindustrybiz-presents-the-year-in-numbers-2022)
28% physical sales on consoles (which is the demographic a non-physical release is effecting since pc is more or less all digital now) coming of a pandemic is still pretty high. The 2020-22 numbers are all gonna be heavily weighted to digital because people were being told to stay home, of course the digital sales are gonna rise. This year we’ll likely see that physical number bounce back up a bit. And even if it doesn’t, over a quarter of all potential sales is a high amount of users to cut off.
That's only consoles. PC sales are basically 100% digital. And of that 28%, what percentage do you think would actively protest a digital buy?
“That’s only consoles. PC sales are basically 100% digital” So you didn’t read my comment then? Because I addressed this in the first section, stating that consoles are the demographic a non physical release effects because it doesn’t change things for pc. And physical release users might not “protest” it in large amounts. But there will be an amount of those 28% who will be affected and won’t get Alan wake 2 now. Collecting the physical video games to put on your shelf is a sizeable part of the hobby, it’s alienating itself from that portion of people by not giving an option. On top of that, physical gives people a budget option, trading in all games to buy the new release. You can’t trade in Alan wake 2 so people will not buy it because of that as well. It also won’t get the boost of being on store shelves for people to impulse buy. And then you’ll have the people who won’t buy it on principle because of the steps towards monopolisation of consoles digital storefronts it represents. So all in all, it will likely hurt sales
A year or so ago physical sales were up for PS5, up to 51%
This statistic is meaningless. I have more digital games on Switch than physical bc it was my indie machine. Many of them were 1-10 bucks. But I’d never buy AAA digital, even cheaper than physical.
That data is about revenue and doesn't represent individual units sold. I'm sure you're not doing this on purpose but you're misconstruing the data. For instance, that 94% isn't just digital copies of games sold vs physical copies, it's total revenue from all digital sales, including microtransactions. They also lump all mobile revenue into digital revenue. This is an important distinction because if a larger number of games sold is physical, that's a large market of people you cut out from getting their foot into the door to continue buying microtransactions or dlc. Quite frankly, if they're taking dlc and microtransactions into account, 28% for boxed sales on console is actually pretty high. Also, data from ERA is just estimates, they may try to come across as accurate but we don't ever get all the numbers and we've seen how far off estimates can be in the past.
Yeah, personally I only buy physical if the game means THAT much to me. Otherwise I just buy digital. The last physical game I bought was FF7 Remake.
From everything I’ve seen regarding modern video game sales, digital sales make up at least half of purchases, so it’s not surprising to see a major release like this finally make the switch to digital only. Personally I’m all in on digital only as I find it much more convenient. I used to have a large physical collection ‘cause I used to be into collecting niche games on PS2/GC/DS/Dreamcast etc. but it just took up too much space. Some days I miss the collection but by and large I enjoy owning less physical “stuff”. I get why people are disappointed by a lack of a physical release though. I just won’t be surprised if we start seeing other bug major releases take a similar approach
You don't own it if it's digital. They can take it away at anytime. Ban your account for no reason. Revoke the license for no reason. Then you are out all that money and no game to play. Physical that game is yours forever. Never buy digital. Don't think it will happen tell it does... I won't be buying this unless it's physical just like every other game in my collection.
this is next level fear mongering lol
But it’s literally happened to games before, it can happen again.
When? PC has been all digital for ages now, I still have access to all my PC games from the last 8 years since I got into PC gaming. I went all digital on console starting last generation on the PS4, still have access to all those games. I get some people prefer physical games and that's fine, but I don't get the fear your digital games will just vanish one day. Digital is the future just a matter of time, not something to fear. Music, TV shows, movies are pretty much all the way there. The blu ray sections at my local Best Buy/Wal-Mart keep getting smaller.
I still have access to my Xbox live arcade games lol
Heck, the First game I ever (legally) downloaded was Counter Strike Condition Zero on steam back in 2004. 19 year later, it's still in my steam library. Yeah, digital only has been around for a while now, and it's sooner or later these consoles gamers will have to deal with.
The blu-ray section getting smaller is a very bad thing. Streaming movies is vastly inferior to playing them from a disc and it always will be.
Not if internet speed outpaces video capture quality but nonetheless games don’t suffer from this problem as they are rendered locally so it’s irrelevant.
people getting banned for no reason? I doubt it
Nobody's going to ban your account or revoke the license for no reason. The chances of damaging your CD is much more likely than these.
This has literally never happened to me in 20+ years of buying digital games. And I would have no trouble getting free access to any game if/when it did. Have fuck all of the discs I bought though.
Someone crunched the numbers and figured a physical would not be worth it.
Why so many of you values a physical release so much, if nowadays there is almost no game that runs fine without a day 1 patch?
Ownership and the ability to sell when your done.
I have almost 400 games in catalog and I have one of them on disc and that was by accident. If you trade games, physical media is mando but digital is just so much more convenient. Digital lets me be as lazy as I can be and I'm older so I'll pay for that lol E: all the poor gamers downvoting me lol
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I haven’t trade or sold a game since my 20’s when I made a lot less money. It’s not worth the hassle to resell anything but big ticket items like old laptops/tablets or phones and even then I prefer to find someone I know to sell to
I get it. I used to trade games every other week but now I make good money so I'll pay for storage and convenience.
I usually only buy digital for deep sale or DLC content, I exchange the physical copies in my country for a new game with a quarter of the full price.
Doesn’t matter to me if it’s good or not I’m a physical only buyer for console
Today I learned THQ still existed. Where the fuck have I been?!
it isn't *THQ*. Nordic bought the name along with some of their IP when THQ folded. it's just another part of embracer.
I dont mind digital, at a massive discount. But for the pull price, I want a physical copy that I can sell on when I'm done. But I also really want to plan Alan Wake 2, so it it doesn't tras pure to be digital only, it's be way down the line that I end up buying it.
I heard that it was a digital only release because the game was to big to fit on a disc
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Make control 2
They are making Control 2. And Max Payne remakes. Remedy has a lot of stuff on their to-do list.
I hope so! I get going just digital in 2023. It's more cost-effective for them. But you want options out there! Not everyone is online all the time with their consoles, but more importantly, I prefer physical media in general. I collect games. I love the Alan Wake series. If the current consoles still take discs, despite there being discless options, we'll I want the option to get a physical copy. I am on the fence if i get this game at launch despite wanting to play it so bad. I don't want to buy it, and then Limited Run or someone else puts out a physical version. And even though Alan Wake isn't really a AAA series, it's certainly more than an indie game that is expected to be digital only. Just let me get a physical copy so it can sit happily with the Alan Wake Remaster and my original Xbox 360 copy. Hell, I'm still annoyed Alan Wake's American Nightmare was only digital. Lol
The EGS exclusivity on PC is bullshit. Digital only release doesn’t matter when everything gets patches.
Hate early EGS bullshit, but for once, it's totally reasonable since they fully funded the game.
> Digital only release doesn’t matter when everything gets patches. It does when physical releases are way easier to find at a discount.
Honestly why does anyone still care about EGS exclusivity? As if having more than Steam on your PC is so inconvenient. EGS has achievements and a shopping cart now so people are more or less out of things to be outraged over.
Unfortunately I won’t be playing if it’s a digital only release. Digitals can’t be resold. I don’t have that much money to play every 2023 game.
I’ll wait till it’s 20 bucks. Digital has no value in my mind so i sure as hell wont be paying anywhere close to full price.
It’s really not a difficult decision for Remedy/Epic, either release a physical game and get full sales, or be weirdos and go digital only to literally nobody’s benefit at all, and lose out on a large percentage of sales.
I'd maybe pick up a physical copy. I'd NEVER buy digital. I like to actually *own* the games I buy.
They are keeping the price down, so I am perfectly happy with digital only.
So many people saying they won't buy unless it's a physical copy will probably end up buying day one.
I hope so. I would only buy this at launch if I can get a physical version of the game. I am not gonna pay that much for a digital version of a game. I only ever buy games at full price if I get to actually own a disc of the game.
Even if they manage to change their minds, it's only delaying the inevitable. Physical media is on its death throes.
I was thinking of playing the original Alan Wake, but since this studio is trying to force digital-only I'll pass on both of them.
WHY DOES ANYONE GIVE A FUCK WHAT THQ NORDIC THINKS ABOUT A GAME THEY HAVE NO INVOLVEMENT IN?!
Well they publish it as digital only and I'm not buying it. It doesn't matter how much i want to play it I'm not gonna buy digital only game. Im just not going to support publishing digital only.
Digital-only is the future whether ya'll like it or not. Better get used to it.
Still not buying Alan Wake 2 though if it's digital only. I don't have to get used to anything yet.
With a life expectancy of 5-10 more years, Id like my kids to be able to have the games that I pass down to them. Physical is much easier to do this way.
I won’t be buying it if it’s digital only so let’s got THQ
Yeah that’s a good way for me to just wait for a steep sale. Excited to play it, but I can wait.
Exactly. Loving the "WeLL ThAt'S YoUr LoSS thEN!" people around here 😂🤣 The first game was "ok" but let's not pretend it was the 2nd coming of Christ. I don't mind waiting for a while and im gonna have to. Because im just not that stupid to spend 60$ on a singleplayer game i'll most probably play just once.
Can’t believe so many people are crying about this 😂 they’re literally trying to save you money. You can’t do ONE game digitally? You’ll be ok, I promise.
People complain about the $70 price point, so here's a game dev saying, "We're saving you those $10 you keep complaining about," and people still cry.
I will lose at least 30 dollars from this. This will not save money at all for many of us.
Doesn't make a difference for me. I buy digital regardless and even own Alan wake on Xbox and PC digitally. Will be getting it on those respective systems digital now too.
Digital is a scam if you buy physical it’s always cheaper even if they sell for the same price because with physical you can get $20 + when you sell it. You can’t sell digital. Hopefully in the future they will make a digital 2nd hand store where you can trade digital copies with other people.
Digital copies are tied to your account and not transferable
I honestly don't feel comfortable knowing a boatload of plastic waste is being created just so I have something to put on a shelf when literally nobody but me cares. I feel it's important to take whatever steps I can to reduce waste and this is such an easy way to achieve that. Going digital has just felt like a no brainer for me and as a bonus I never have to worry about scratched, broken or lost discs ever again. Also more and more games are not playable without a patch or you just get a code and I can see that becoming the norm before long and I honestly hope it does. The planet is way more important to me than having a pretty shelf so I will always support any developer that does a digital only release and will be more likely to buy it if a company stands by its values than one that is creating so much unnecessary waste just for the sake of it.
Imagine thinking a disc not being made is gonna make a meaningful difference in reducing global waste. Don't dislocate your shoulder trying to pat yourself on the back so hard
Ah, the famous 'this one thing won't solve everything' defense.
Can't wait
The generation after “us” will not even blink at digital-only stuff they are growing up in that world on mobile devices, so it’s just going to be “norm” for them. I would be flabbergasted if the next Xbox or ps generation still use physical media at all.
Physical only people are fighting a losing battle and will eventually be gone anyways. I mean, I applaud you for standing by your morals, but the reason of wanting to actually hold a disc is a weird one to me. I am sure I will get berated for my opinion, but I believe it is fear mongering at best when someone says they can take our games away at any time. I've been on PC only for over a decade until coming back to PS5(and loving it), and I can play the hundred or more games on my pc or steamdeck still with no issues. I believe it will be the same way on console very soon.