"We Still Value the Culture of Physical Media" As PlayStation Prepares for an All-Digital Future, Sega President Comes Out in Support of Discs
Shuji Utsumi says Sega still values physical media, but the company must strengthen digitalisation as PC play grows and Sony moves to all-digital games.
- Sega president Shuji Utsumi addressed Sony's plan to retire physical game discs by 2028, stating that while the company values physical media, a "digital shift is crucial" for reaching global audiences.
- Utsumi noted that the proportion of gamers using PCs is "steadily increasing," and to cultivate this market, Sega believes it is important to strengthen digitalisation and become more global.
- Drawing on Sega's legacy as a former platform provider, Utsumi emphasized the company's success as a publisher, aiming to act on digital and physical media in parallel.
- Former Nippon Ichi Software CEO Sohei Niikawa objected to Sony's strategy, arguing that if the company eliminates physical packages, it may as well "get rid of the hardware" entirely.
- The $7.2 billion second-hand game market faces risks from Sony's move; Wedbush Securities managing director Michael Pachter noted that the future for Brick and mortar retail is "doomed.
16 Articles
16 Articles
"We still value the culture of physical media" As PlayStation prepares for an all-digital future, Sega president comes out in support of discs
Sega is the latest publisher to make its views about physical media clear, in the wake of Sony's controversial decision to kill off the manufacture and sale of discs by 2028. The president of the Japanese publisher, Shuji Utsumi, noted that he believes physical media is still important, though digital distribution is "crucial", mostly thanks to the "steadily increasing" number of people playing on PC.
SEGA & Ubisoft Leaders Share Their Thoughts On The Future Of Physical Games
"We are currently considering the important elements of digital media...".We're still waiting to hear from Xbox on what their plans are for supporting physical games in the future, as we already know that PlayStation will be ditching them (at least in disc form) from January 2028.Interestingly, both the SEGA President and Ubisoft CEO were asked about the physical games situation in separate interviews this week, and they each highlighted how dig…
Sega Reaffirms Its Commitment to Physical Games as PlayStation Moves Toward Digital
The announcement that Sony would be moving to eliminate physical media for all games released on PlayStation consoles beginning in 2018 continues to be major news in the video game industry as reactions to the new policy remain heated. The backlash has provided an opportunity for gaming professionals to weigh in and, with the right words, score some goodwill among the broader gaming community. The latest comes out of a former console rival of So…
Sega wants to significantly strengthen the digital distribution of its games without abandoning physical publications and the associated corporate culture.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
