Ok, so if digital games are 47% more expensive then physical games, then why are you as the consumer buying digital games? Why not just buy the physical game and save money?
I certainly can't speak for everyone but for me as a disabled person in a wheelchair who gets sick frequently enough to make hospital stay purchases (PC laptop and Switch1/2 looking at you) plus I have to weigh how much I use my arms, particularly my shoulders as they wear out at a faster rate than your average bear being in a wheelchair 24/7.
Going to a store requires at least four car/truck transfers minimum which is the hardest singular things on both my shoulders and elbows I can do. And this is assuming I don't need to check multiple stores for stock. So yeah I am quick to buy digital or physical but online because of my SCI (spinal cord injury). This will btw come full circle on the 'sony tax'.
I get I am a niche part of the population but EVERYONE has their own issues. Kids, work, school, etc etc etc. So the convenience of digital is hard to ignore. That is before you consider the cost of e waste, shippings based pollution, warehouse usage for storage space or space to store disks/carts at home. So their is a solid argument for digital being better for the planet and consumers both. There are a bunch of ways to look at this. To be clear I do love physical...I even collect it. But digital is here to stay for me as consumer even if I don't find it ideal for many of the reasons I listed.
I think people are attacking on the wrong front here. What we need is more of a 'real ownership' of all our games/software. Be allowed to sell them online or give them to a family member/friend. We don't even own physical games at this point under most TOSes. And look how Nintendo is now licensing our consoles to us and bricking them (mig carts looking at you even if you're 99.9% sketch). This "licensing" trend is out of hand.
Thing is I would be fine giving a cut of resold games/hardware to devs/console makers. Setting up a digital resale market front would be a win for *mostly* everyone in my opinion. Devs could finally make cash on the used market. Gamers would feel like they own their games again and we could finally address the concerns many have...RIP Robin Williams, thank you for suing crApple even if you lost... the idea of willing/giving our digital games/content to our families when we pass.
A second hand digital market would also serve to price check the cost of 'new' versions games/dlc. This would directly challenge the 'Sony Tax'. Companies like Sony/MS/Nintendo could try and sell you game G at 80 dollars even years after its release on their marketplace but when the used market has decent stock you might well be able to get the same game G for ten bucks. This could force the prices lower across the board. It is honestly one of the bigger reasons I believe digital ownership hasn't happened as of yet. There is ZERO technological hurdles preventing the resale of used digital content that wasn't inserted on purpose by the industry.
We are evolving into a world where you own nothing and I can't find much of anyone who finds this to be a comfort. That is really what needs change. We need more agency over our digital media. It would help solve a lot more problems than it would create. Certainly we could force companies to compete with themselves again like they did back in the days of all physical. Maybe, just maybe we could kill things like the 'Sony Tax' by granting us more agency over our purchases and setting up a used marketplace to sell them when we are ready to.
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