The walls are closing in. Our cherished world of tangible gaming assets, the sense of ownership it provided, the joy of cracking open a freshly minted game case – everything is being eroded by the unstoppable tsunami of digital media. And the worst part? We’re being conditioned to accept it, to revel in our own dispossession. The prophecy from Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, rings ominously: “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.”
Schwab’s phrase, intended or not, is becoming a chillingly accurate prediction for the gaming industry. The Great Vanishing Act has already begun. GameStop, once a ubiquitous haven for physical game enthusiasts, is a shadow of its former self. Retail shelves that once sagged under the weight of a vast array of games are now stocked with novelty t-shirts, Funko Pops, and a smattering of ‘antique’ physical games. Gaming has been transfigured into a world of digital ephemera where we pay for temporary access instead of permanent ownership. This is not evolution; this is a robbery in broad daylight.
The industry’s push towards a digital-only future isn’t some benevolent bid to save the environment, as some would argue. It’s not even about convenience for the end user. It’s an economically driven decision, a means to an end, designed to perpetually extract money from consumers. While digital media has undeniably brought benefits, like instantaneous delivery and less physical clutter, it’s done so at an exorbitant cost: our right to ownership.
Once upon a time, when you bought a game, you owned that game. You could lend it to a friend, sell it once you were finished, or keep it as part of a cherished collection. Now, every game we ‘buy’ is merely a lease, a ticket to play until the provider decides otherwise. We are at the mercy of an invisible hand that can erase our digital possessions at whim.
Digital media also opens up a plethora of nefarious money-making tactics. Constant updates, mandatory subscriptions, microtransactions, loot boxes – all these have been enabled by the shift towards digital distribution. And let’s not forget the most grotesque display of this new era: the dreaded “games as a service” model. An insidious trick, the model seduces us with seemingly cheaper entry prices, only to milk us dry with a never-ending series of in-app purchases and season passes.
The golden era of gaming, a time when creativity and innovation were king, is being superseded by a world driven by revenue-first decisions. Games are being launched half-baked, unfinished, only to be patched and updated on the fly, because hey, it’s all digital, right? The sanctity of the final product has been compromised. Quality control seems like a quaint concept from a bygone era.
Sadly, it seems that the fight is already over. Digital sales have overtaken physical ones, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. We’re on a one-way street heading towards a future where games are little more than transient commodities. A future where we are expected to smile as we hand over our money for a product that can be snatched away at a moment’s notice, just as Klaus Schwab foretold.
But is this the future we want? A future where we own nothing, and are supposed to be happy about it?
As consumers, as gamers, we must assert our right to ownership, our right to have a say in how our hobby evolves. If we simply go with the flow, accepting the status quo because it’s the ‘way things are now,’ we are complicit in the robbery of our own rights.
So, the next time you reach for that digital download, consider what you’re sacrificing: your right to own, to share, to resell. Consider that with each digital purchase, you’re eroding the vestiges of a time when gaming was about more than just profit margins. The fight may seem uphill, but every stand counts. The future of gaming, after all, is in our hands.
