Earlier as we speak, Sony unveiled the $699.99 PlayStation 5 Professional — a mid-generation improve mannequin for the PlayStation 5 that requires a separate $79.99 disc drive if you wish to play your bodily video games. As The Verge’s Jay Peters writes, the announcement “might have marked the start of the top for sport console disc drives.” From the report: Microsoft is clearly eyeing the discless route with Xbox as nicely. The extra inexpensive Xbox Sequence S cannot play discs, and there is a discless Sequence X in white that is set to launch later this yr. Final yr’s big Xbox leak revealed a cylindrical, “adorably all digital” Xbox Sequence X redesign too. That hasn’t been introduced as an official product, however it exhibits a disc-free future is on Microsoft’s thoughts. It appears probably that Sony and Microsoft are testing the waters for going all-digital for the PlayStation 6 and the subsequent technology Xbox — or a minimum of providing disc drives individually. It is like Apple eradicating the disc drive over again.
However this time it is not simply the folks making the gadgets. Retailers are stepping again from bodily media, too. Redbox is toast. Greatest Purchase mentioned final yr that it will cease carrying bodily motion pictures, and Goal just lately confirmed that it will be all however ditching DVDs in its bodily shops. I do know motion pictures aren’t video video games, however it would not appear to be a giant leap that brick-and-mortar shops would possibly cease carrying bodily video video games down the road; UK retailer GAME has already ended online game trade-ins.
