Will the video game sector become digital only?
Posted on Jul 04, 2012 by equimedia
The video games industry is on the brink of embracing the next level of digital marketing and behavioural targeting, as it turns its back on high street retail outlets entirely.
EA president Frank Gibeau has hinted that the games publisher will become 100 per cent digital soon.
Further than this, he believes the move over to digital content provision is inevitable.
The games industry faces a cocktail of incentives to move into the digital realm full time. Gamers are increasingly turning their backs on high street retailers to make their purchases, while the industry is taking steps to cut back on second-hand games trading through exclusive DLC and extras access.
As streaming services such as Netflix and LoveFilm prove, the digital-only business model is profitable.
One of the early movers in the gaming sector has been Gaikai. The California-based open cloud platform offers gamers the opportunity to stream games live, instantly.
While there is no sign EA or any other publisher has any plans to replicate this model, there is something inherently appealing about it.
Traditionally, playing the highest quality video games has required players to invest in the equivalent hardware. But Gaikai intends to enable gamers to bypass this costly expense by streaming games directly into a browser.
But there is more to this move into the digital arena than playability. Digital gaming also makes sense from a behavioural targeting, marketing perspective.
Speaking to Games Industry Biz, EA's Mr Gibeau said: "The ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that's the best way for them to get it, that's what we're going to do. It has a lot of enhancements for our business.
"It allows us to keep more that we make. It allows us to do some really interesting things from a service level standpoint; we can be a lot more personalized with what we're doing."
