Earlier right now, Sony unveiled the $699.99 PlayStation 5 Professional — a mid-generation improve mannequin for the PlayStation 5 that requires a separate $79.99 disc drive if you wish to play your bodily video games. As The Verge’s Jay Peters writes, the announcement “could have marked the start of the tip for sport console disc drives.” From the report: Microsoft is clearly eyeing the discless path with Xbox as effectively. The extra reasonably priced Xbox Collection S cannot play discs, and there is a discless Collection X in white that is set to launch later this yr. Final yr’s large Xbox leak revealed a cylindrical, “adorably all digital” Xbox Collection X redesign too. That hasn’t been introduced as an official product, nevertheless it exhibits a disc-free future is on Microsoft’s thoughts. It appears probably that Sony and Microsoft are testing the waters for going all-digital for the PlayStation 6 and the subsequent technology Xbox — or at the very least providing disc drives individually. It is like Apple eradicating the disc drive another time.
However this time it isn’t simply the individuals making the units. Retailers are stepping again from bodily media, too. Redbox is toast. Greatest Purchase mentioned final yr that it might cease carrying bodily motion pictures, and Goal just lately confirmed that it might be all however ditching DVDs in its bodily shops. I do know motion pictures aren’t video video games, nevertheless it does not look like a giant leap that brick-and-mortar shops would possibly cease carrying bodily video video games down the road; UK retailer GAME has already ended online game trade-ins.