No Digital Distribution for You.

Capcom VP of strategic planning says there will always be a place for retail outlets.




There has been a lot of talk about Digital Distribution and how it will affect games. Some see it as the future and while that may be so, Digital Distribution isn't the way to go and VP of strategic marketing Christian Svensson seems to think back that claim up.


"As big a proponent of digital as I am, that will never happen. Retail will always have a place because it will always be important to facilitate impulse purchases, cash based transactions, giftable (in the physical sense) objects even if that object is nothing more than a token in a box, etc. Secondly, I do believe that some retailers like Gamestop do offer value to less educated consumers (think your mom) when it comes to directing them to products they or someone they’re buying for might enjoy. Sure there are ways that user reviews and the like could provide similar guidance, but for your average non-gaming consumer, they aren’t going to do the research online. They’re just going to walk into a store and ask a clerk for a recommendation.

The difference in the future is that retail won’t be the predominant channel and thus the power exchange will flip from retailers to consumers, which ultimately is better for the entire ecosystem."

While I agree with Christian Svensson, I don't think gamestop employees have the knowledge about Video Games  as one would think therefore confusing customers and making that person looking for a gift buy a crap game. There have been cases where gamestop employees don't know what Hard Core gamers are talking about and just stand there and smile. But I do believe owning a hard copy of the product is a lot better than digital distribution specially for collectors.

Not to mention if you want to go over to a friends house and play a certain game, you can't do that unless your friend owns a copy of the digital game. While digital distribution is big, I don't think well be swapping our hard copies of video game products for Digital Distribution.


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