Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has chimed in on the debate surrounding Sony’s planned shift away from physical disc production, stating he doesn’t think it will “disturb” the industry too much.
Guillemot was prompted to speak on the topic in a recent Ubisoft financial call that also saw the company reveal Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has already sold over 3.5m copies. Specifically, he was asked if he was worried that Sony’s decision would have any direct or indirect effects on the games industry.
Guillemot responded (thanks Games Radar), “What we saw on the PC is that it helped to grow the market. There’s also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have a more accessible machine, I would say […] there are pluses and minuses. But we think it will not disturb, too much, the industry.”
Recent data shows more purchases than ever are digital. Recent Sony financial reports have shown the vast majority of games sales are digital, 93 percent of Capcom’s sales were digital this past year, and it’s expected that figure will grow This is especially true on PC, which is now almost exclusively digital thanks in large part to the success of storefronts like Steam. Even so, millions of physical copies are still bought every year. So while Sony’s shift might not disturb the current trajectory of the industry, especially with big games like GTA 6 also going discless, there will likely be some effect.
Yves’ point on console costs may have merit. Hardware – even old hardware – is getting more expensive every year, and if upcoming consoles can launch without a disc drive could lower the price of what’s looking to be an exceptionally costly generation, that may be a good thing overall. However, one would imagine that a console without a disc drive would require more memory, which is certainly not cheap these days.
So there’s Guillemot’s perspective! But the topic remains a controversial one, and it’s prompted numerous industry figureheads to wade into the debate. Hideo Kojima is “sad” about Sony’s decision, for instance, while Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa says Sony might as well ditch its consoles while it’s at it.
