Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard has made it clear that he does not see brick-and-mortar as a feasible option in 10 years. Jagex cites the decline of UK-based Game Group retailers as heralding the end of the gaming shop.
"I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece," said Gerhard to a BAFTA Question Time event. "I don't think there's much there that would give it a second life."
He added that the simple fact that the retail shops are taking so much from the developers is reason enough that the end should be near. With a growing digital games market flourishing for Steam, Origin, and other retailers, the consumer is simply turning away from the more expensive option.
"That all erodes the economics for developers being able to make money. They take a chunk - say 20 or 30 per cent - the publishers take a bit, and after inflation it's no wonder that the independent games industry isn't alive and vibrant, because they're not making any money."
"[Developers'] response is almost desperation,” he offered. “'We're going to go straight to the customer. We're going to go online. We're going to bypass the sequence that's taking so much from us...' I recognize that it's sad, but I think it's a fait accompli."
"It's sad to see an institution decline, but the writing has been on the wall for quite some time - the internet didn't happen yesterday... People are still playing games. They're still doing business; they're just doing it in a different place... If you don't adapt you die. It's as simple as that."
Other panelists at the event offered their conclusions; Rebellion owner Jason Kingsley chimed in, saying that the impending retail collapse reminds him of an extinction event in the fossil record. His main problem was with continued physical retail, and that such game data was "on bits of plastic wrapped in cardboard and the cellophane and put on the back of [trucks]."
"I always thought data should go down wires and fiber optic cables. It's a reforming of an industry, and a refocusing away from selling data - which is more easily distributed in other ways - to offer a very different kind of service."
Also in the discussion were Frontier Development’s David Braben and UKIE’s Jo Twist. Both of them rang in that while it does seem the retail market is in decline, there is consideration that retail spaces offer consumers more guidance and information through their salesmanship.
Others were quick to point out that social networking have been getting the job done much more efficiently, and Braben then offered that retail shops in the UK were still subpar.
The panel then closed out, with all developers rather confident that the retail space for games should be very miniscule, if not dead in ten year's time.
"Whilst I am tremendously sympathetic to all of those that work in the shops, the fundamental problem is that they've got to look at their business to reposition it anyway,” concluded Braben. “That's irrespective of whether it's a good or bad thing."
[Thanks GamesIndustry.biz]
