The former writer of Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead games has lashed out at users complaining about the discontinuation of physical copies of PlayStation games. He says it’s their own fault.
There is still a loud outcry over Sony’s decision to end physical distribution of PlayStation games on discs from 2028. Negative comments are being written, votes are being collected in petitions, but Sony is still silent.
That is why other members of the gaming industry express their opinions on this issue. Some people find the discontinuation of PlayStation games on discs sad, while others believe that the market just chose the direction it should go. This second group also includes a former member of Valve, Chet Faliszekthe writer of the former Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead games.
Faliszek says how they are players themselves chose the digital future of gaming.
“Consumers chose and they chose digital. There are still games in stores today. There are used games in stores, but you don’t go to the stores and buy them. Gamestop’s total revenue from game sales is only 18%. From a store that was founded to sell games and nothing else.” Faliszek said.
“Digital games on PlayStation account for 85% of sales. And you think they’re lying to you. No, they’re reacting to your buying habits. They had a system that you said you didn’t like, that you like to buy digital and instant. Sony needs to have a system that will last more than two years, that will live 10 or 15 years after that.” – concluded Faliszek.
Although statistics definitely do not lie, they can be interpreted in different ways. It’s true that sales of physical copies have been in decline for years, but we’re still talking about millions of copies sold per year. On the other hand, there are no official statistics to show how alive and active the second-hand game buying and selling scene is, which will disappear completely with the abolition of discs. The fact that only 15% of people in stores buy new PlayStation games on discs does not automatically mean that this is the total number of people who buy games on discs – just that this percentage does not include those who buy used copies.