It's better to buy digital games. Why It's Better to Get PS5 Digital Edition

Our consumer habits speak for us, and they say quite clearly that we're switching to digital for good. Statistics provided by Sony confirm this. The breakthrough seems to have come in the first quarter of 2019, when, for the first time ever, digital sales outgrew physical. And that trend will surely pervade. Quite the contrary. Especially now, with the pandemic around, there's a surge in the number of digital games sold. However, COVID-19 is a random accident. The whole process started earlier, and this only accelerated it. Why did owners of consoles change habits?

They simply had to – some console games are only available digitally. Source: PlayStation Store

Buying a digital version is faster and more convenient if you have fast internet.

Shopping begins in the same way. We browse an internet catalog to choose our next game. The difference comes right then. If you buy a digital game, you can start downloading it right away – if you buy a box, you either have to go to the store, or wait for shipping. Then, you might have to download a large patch, anyway. It's completely different when buying a digital version. You pay, download, and install. Only the biggest games, around 100GB, will require an amount of time to download that's at least comparable with shipment time, if the download speed is around 30-40 Mbps, which is quite moderate. Users of high-speed fiber optic links can shorten that time to some ludicrous values. With such connection, downloading a regular game is a matter of minutes. As we said you can also go to the store. Just boot the disc at home, install in a few minutes on a fast SSD... but not necessarily start playing right away. Since disks have to be burned days before being shipped to stores, launch-day patches that essentially contain an entire game are not a rarity. If you download a game right before the launch, you likely won't need any additional patches; if you do it weeks or days before, the game may be updated automatically. Because of this, physical distribution isn't always a salvation for users of low-speed internet connection.

Digital games don't break

There's not much to add. A collection of digital games will last as long as the stores last. Rather no one can imagine a sudden bankruptcy of Sony and Microsoft. Even if that happened, it's not guaranteed that their consoles would continue to operate; on top of that physical media aren't indestructible either, and, contrary to digital, tend to disappear. You don't need to dust off your virtual shelf, too.

Digital saves space

A library of digital games can reach any size you want (or rather, can afford). It's different with boxes, which do have to be stored somewhere. If your apartment isn't huge, storage space can be precious, so keeping around games that you mostly don't play isn't really a good idea. What if you run out of space? Maybe some plants would liven up a room stacked with plastic boxes? If you ever end up packing your games in boxes and putting to the basement, be sure it could be the last time you see them. Even if you've got a bigger house, too many boxes may become a nuisance at some point. If you're expecting a baby, for example, and need to clean a room, video games are high on the list of stuff to get rid of. Sure, you could store them in the said basement, or store in a corner of your room. But you may also end up selling the collection or giving the games away to family members and friends. Reselling games also requires a lot of time and effort. . Maybe moving a few boxes full of video game boxes isn't worth the fuss, but it's also a fact that a digital library doesn't create these problems. The digital library is pretty much always accessible, no matter where you move and for how long. As long as you remember the credentials, of course.

Microsoft hasn't announced Xbox Series X without a disc reader so far. That's why we focused on the PS5. Source: Xbox

Easier access to discounts and sales

If a game is discounted in retail, it won't necessarily be discounted on-line, and vice versa. Even if discounts coincide, they don't have to be identical. Either way, access to cheaper games seems easier with the digital option. PlayStation and Microsoft stores regularly hold sales of dozens, or even hundreds of games. Promotions in retail are rarer, and there's fewer games to get. It's also pretty easy to miss a good deal. Visiting a virtual store every day is much easier. Unless it's a chain-wide promotion, sales are usually a matter of local supply.

After a really hard day, when you can finally kick back in front of the TV, standing up to switch disks and play a different game is often the last thing you want to do. That's just too much, sometimes. It's different with digital. Provided the game is installed, all you have to do is select it in the library. So there's no need to juggle discs and boxes. It's a small thing, but it is nice.