While it’s obvious that digital distributions is the wave of the future (in gaming, music and film alike), some wonder if it will be the nail in the coffin of disc-based services like Redbox.
Ryan Calnan (who is director of Redbox’s game rental division) pushed back against these concerns in a recent interview, suggesting there is a demand for both services in the market among consumers. “I don’t see streaming as a challenge. I think that both can live side-by-side. We’re expanding the edges of gaming, and I think that customer is very much attached to that physical product still…There’s obviously this emotional relationship to the physical disc.” He states.
Naturally the “physical disc relationship” he refers to is a result of some gamer’s inability to step outside their comfort zone and adopt new formats. This gap will likely continue to close as streaming of game content becomes more prevalent.
In regards to the future of next-gen and the Redbox service, Canlnan states, “We are testing new-generation product in select markets. We’re encouraged by our success so far where we’ve been testing this product. We’re excited to be rolling this product out over a period of time as our customer’s transition from the current gen over to the new-generation systems.”
So what do you think? Can a physical media service like Redbox survive in the digital age? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!