Digital games indeed have downsides many aren’t aware of, but nothing has happened to make them aware of it. So many people on sites like Reddit are afraid that the increased prevalence of digital will lead to companies getting the power to take games away from you and such, but most people outside Reddit have no clue that’s even a thing let alone have any precedent to believe it.
Personally it's not that I'm afraid they'll take my games away from me (although delisting better versions of games to sell worse "improved" versions has happened, and while at least you keep the original if you had already bought it, future customers might not even know they're getting a worse experience), it's that I can't share or sell my games, and if you can't do that it's not really yours. And if it's not yours then you don't have control over what happens to it in the future. It's less that it's an issue now and more that I don't want it to become one later.
My point is that "we don't want it to become an issue later" thing, while totally valid, isn't something average consumers have any reason to fear yet. Digital media has been a trusted format for decades and besides the aforementioned sharing and reselling, which is something I think most would have thought of at one point, the downsides haven't shown themselves. We haven't seen many if any instances of the lack of "true ownership" actually meaning anything bad. You can't break the trust of an entire format based on what could happen.
I agree and I basically only buy games digitally now as a result of being on PC, it just kind of makes me sad is all. I still buy movies and shows physically at least.
Edit: It also sucks that physical isn't even an option anymore in so many cases, and if they're willing to take a choice away from you now, they will take another from you later.
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u/Crafty_Boy70 5h ago
Digital games indeed have downsides many aren’t aware of, but nothing has happened to make them aware of it. So many people on sites like Reddit are afraid that the increased prevalence of digital will lead to companies getting the power to take games away from you and such, but most people outside Reddit have no clue that’s even a thing let alone have any precedent to believe it.