The Digital Distribution Revolution

There are often talks within the industry on when it is expected for video games to go completely Digital. This would mean that retail boxes would be obsolete and everything will be downloaded online without the need of buying software stored on physical media. I often however find talks about that kind of thing to be kind of premature.

The idea of digital distribution is certainly growing and it is definitely way more popular than it ever was but I still think we are nowhere there yet. The Insufficient Interne t infrastructure, higher preference of buying physical copies of games, and geographical limitations are all factors that contribute to why we are not yet ready to have digital distribution as the primary method of purchasing video games throughout all platforms.

Steam is definitely one of the contributors to the digital distribution movement.

I have definitely, as with many others, been opening up to the concept of digital distribution more and more recently. The idea of not having countless amounts of discs lying around in piles is just a better way of organizing your video game collection. In addition you would also be able to purchase the game on release just like everybody else without having to get out of your house to drive to your local game store or even order a retail copy online and have to wait for it to arrive at your doorstep. To say the least Digital Distribution is definitely going to be the biggest way to purchase video games at some point in the future.

There are however certain factors that I think are clearly hindering the digital movement from reaching up to the potential it has. The first and foremost of these problems is limitations within the Internet infrastructure. Currently even though broadband is becoming mainstream there is still a large consumer base that lacks the proper internet connection both in terms of speed and stability to support a full on digital model.