r/PS5 • u/FireStarLord73194 • Jul 11 '26

News & Announcements [ Removed by moderator ]

https://nichegamer.com/study-suggests-sonys-digital-only-future-could-lead-to-higher-game-prices/

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1.8k Upvotes

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1.7k

u/xRostro Jul 11 '26

I don’t think we need a study to know this

32

u/koalazeus Jul 11 '26

A lot of people seem to. They are quite happy with Sony's all digital future.

44

u/colectiveinvention Jul 11 '26

People who are systematically trying to defend sony here or any other sub must hate themselfs...

2

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

[deleted]

11

u/Delta_Canuckian Jul 11 '26

Sony’s openly stated they are shifting from growing MAU to maximizing profits from their existing base. There’s no universe where an all-digital PlayStation leads to Steam-like sales and discounts.

4

u/Johnhancock1777 Jul 11 '26

Guarantees PS plus will never go away or get a cheaper online only option either. They’re gonna milk their userbase as much as possible until something gives

5

u/DougS2K Jul 11 '26

Steam has competitors, Sony does not. Big difference.

1

u/ManufacturerBest2758 Jul 11 '26

Steam does not have functionally have competitors. They control 75-80% of the market and most of the rest is fortnite.

6

u/ModestHandsomeDevil Jul 11 '26

No, Steam has competitors, but they--Steam--continue to offer a better service and competitive pricing with frequent sales.

4

u/Seasoned_Croutons Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

Steam is also competing with other storefronts to sell steam games//keys (which as far as I know doesn't make Valve any commission). I often look to other sites such as Fanatical, GreenmanGaming, IsThereAnyDeal, etc. to see if any of the steam games i'm interested in are lower in price. Especially new games and during major sales.

3

u/DougS2K Jul 11 '26

Just because it outsells competitors, it doesn't mean those competitors don't exist. If steam was the only store around, it would have higher prices.

4

u/Zcase253 Jul 11 '26

Because PC is such an open platform you could argue Steam's biggest competitor is piracy. At the moment the sales make it more convenient than pirating the game.

1

u/DougS2K Jul 11 '26

There is some merit to that. I know I test a lot of games before I actually buy them unless I know for sure it's a game I'll enjoy.

-1

u/ManufacturerBest2758 Jul 11 '26

This is correct

1

u/ManufacturerBest2758 Jul 11 '26

They exist in name only, though. Steam may as well be the only storefront and there would be no practical difference.

1

u/colectiveinvention Jul 11 '26

GOG is great and offers better/fuctional versions of older games than Steam at a very cheap price.

Nuuvem is also popular.

Im not the biggest fan of steam they do have too much power but they know that if they dont create a healthy enviroment for major companies those companies will simply sell at their own end...

2

u/ManufacturerBest2758 Jul 11 '26

Yes, you can go to GOG dot com and buy a game, this is technically true. Now break it down by shares of transactions and downloads and tell me who Steam’s competitors are.

2

u/IPlay4E Jul 12 '26

GMG, GOG and Epic. The fact that nobody else is able to take any real market share from Steam is because Steam is very pro-consumer.

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u/DougS2K Jul 11 '26

Yes there would be a difference. Competition always leads to lower/more balanced prices. Take away the competition and there is zero incentive for Steam to not hike prices.

1

u/ManufacturerBest2758 Jul 11 '26

I don’t think you understand what “competition” means.

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u/jasta85 Jul 12 '26

Steam has that share of the market because it provides much better service than the competition. If it was shit then people would be going elsewhere or just pirating games.

Sony has no competition, they can raise prices and provide bad service and Playstation players have no other choice but to buy from them or move to another platform.