"There are a lot of people who are able to play on PC"

Image credit: Sega

I don't see Sony going back on their plans to embrace a discless PlayStation future, but I do wonder if they realised just how many of us would continue to talk about it for as long as we have. Even RPS got involved, and us PC lot had to abandon discs a millenia ago! And now Sega, former physical media producers themselves, have wandered into the conversation, even throwing a bone to the computer preferring collective that we all are.

Sega president Shuji Utsumi recently sat down in an interview with Famitsu (ta for the translations, GamesRadar), where he shared the company's stance on physical games. Here's what he had to say: "With regards to what we call 'full games' on both console and PC, we think the shift towards digital titles is key. Of course consoles are important, but at the moment, we're seeing an increase in the number of people playing on PC."

Utsumi goes on to acknowledge that there are regions that don't have easy access to consoles, noting that conversely "there are a lot of people who are able to play on PC. I think it's important to strengthen our digital products in order to develop this market. [Japan] has a culture of physical media, but I think it's necessary that we're conscious of digital content in order to become more global."

Where Sega ultimately stands is still in a place of being interested in physical games, especially considering their origins in that space. "We used to develop consoles, and of course, we still have a fondness for physical culture," he said. "So rather than completely abandoning it, we are currently considering the important elements of digital media, and simultaneously trying to make a shift."

The take away here for us is obviously Sega's interest in PC as a platform. They've not exactly locked away their games on consoles as their major releases tend to arrive on PC as well. I just wonder how they plan to reckon with this shift, particularly given that acknowledgement of their home country having a preference for physical media, and whether or not they see more of a future on our side of the fence as opposed to the console makers'.