The game studio must deliver the title via USB drive.
The game studio must deliver the title via USB drive.
USB prices might be dropping, but they’re still far from cheaper than DVDs. Use GTA V as an example. In my country, a USB that holds the whole game is nearly as valuable as the game itself, making it seem like a poor deal. This approach could help when purchasing smaller game collections—paying more for compact games while keeping costs manageable.
Living here, an 8GB USB costs roughly the price of GTA V, while a 60GB drive would cost about 60 such units—around $64. Adding the game itself brings it to $124. For me, using multiple USB sticks doesn’t seem practical, at least. Companies should make Blu-ray similar to DVD and create more layers on the disk so developers can store more data. This improvement also helps with storing 4K movies.
AAA titles now support installs around +10 GB with simple setup, and many come with larger updates at release. No business that aims to survive would force a switch to USB unless it's a niche or special version (did KOTOR have a unique edition with USB? It was also priced at +$120, remember?) Even though I’d prefer Blu-ray installations, those drives are 3-5 times pricier than older CDs. But if prices drop closer to what SSDs offer for HDDs, most users would upgrade. If Sony wasn’t so pricey, that would change things.
A 64GB drive with a game preloaded would cost around $60 USD. The stick itself would be between $25 and $30 USD, and each game would bring in about $85 to $90. They won’t spend $20 or even cover the setup costs.