Sony wants to sell PSN games in UK shops

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 7 March, 2011

Could Flower join Killzone 3 on shelves?

Sony wants to make the sale of PlayStation Network games in UK shops a reality.

Specialist shop GAME already sells Xbox Live Arcade games in stores – a scheme it launched just two weeks ago.

Now Sony wants in on the action.

"We actually already have the same programme in place with GameStop in the US," SCEE President Andrew House told MCV.

"We would like to work with the right retail partners in Europe under the right model, to undertake the same sort of activity."

If Sony does convince shops to sell PSN games, the likes of Flower and Pixeljunk Shooter 2 could sit alongside Killzone 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 on store shelves.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • toa_boa #1 1 year ago

    Pretty cool - give smal developers another outlet/show room for their digital products, and help bridge the gap between the consoles digital initiatives and physical stores.

    gogogo!

  • HiddenAway #2 1 year ago

    Amazon in the US do this as well. If SCEE can provide download codes for full PSN games from the online stores, then I'd be happy with that as it would essentially be a form of gifting (you purchase and send the code off to the user).

    Should have been done here a while ago though...

  • gandhimaster #3 1 year ago

    i guess they'll be cheaper in stores then ala games on demand? are sony/ms trying to kill their download services or what?!

  • Gastrian #4 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • DreadedWalrus #5 1 year ago

    gandhimaster: Presumably they're doing it to target people who have a net connection, but don't really browse the store on a regular basis, if at all.

    It would be nice if they could sell more than download codes though (i.e. sell the actual games on disc), to target the many more people who have a PS3 but no net connection, or a net connection but don't have the PS3 hooked up.
    Edited by DreadedWalrus at 07/03/11 @ 10:09

  • KrazyFace #6 1 year ago

    @gandhimaster: I wouldn't say that they're trying to kill their download service, but rather bring it to the people not connected. I know it seems hard to belive, but I'm sure there are quite a few 360's/PS3's not connected to the world. Maybe either because the parent won't allow it, or a family that simply can't afford it as a luxuary. You can jump down my neck about how cheap it is to have broadband in the home if you like, but it won't change the fact there really are people out there on such a low budget that internet connectivity is just too expencive.

    I think this is a good thing, some things can be easily missed when you're sifting quickly through an online store and this is a good way of giving people another chance to find these games. Plus, it never hurts to have a hard-copy.

    EDIT: Sorry, I didn't catch where it said they would only be selling codes!?
    Edited by KrazyFace at 07/03/11 @ 10:14

  • captain_Carl #7 1 year ago

    @Walrus recent Sony talks have said that 80% of PS3 consoles are registered to PSN, so in fairness, that is a huge amount. They just need to bring more eyes to the product. Putting PSN games up for sale in Game might be a good way of doing that.

    EDIT: Not that i disagree that a disc solution would be better - it would. I was just saying the market for people who DO have that connection is pretty big, and this would be a good way to make people more aware of what they can get from PSN, and increase sales.
    Edited by captain_Carl at 07/03/11 @ 10:16

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #8 1 year ago

    They could put them on disk, for example dead space 2 comes with the psn install of, dead space extraction on the disk, weather or not it can be installed on to multiple machines i dont know, but you would of thought, Sony would want to stay away from the idea of trading in PSN titles.

  • mingster #9 1 year ago

    I like this idea as my PS3 is not connected to PSN.

  • Zimo #10 1 year ago

    To be honest putting a PSN games on disc is a waste,
    Much of the disc would just be left useless, plus you would have to see a larger price bump for the additional costs.

    Could only really work if games where bundled whereby the additional price would be more justified

  • Quak #11 1 year ago

    The full quote was "We actually already have the same programme in place with GameStop in the US, but as we all know Europe is a distant last on Sony's priority list so we haven't bothered anything like that over there until now."

  • bikmate #12 1 year ago

    Excellent, I can finally get some PSN only games since my country doesn't have access to the Store.

  • mingster #13 1 year ago

    ZIMO total nonsense.
    You realise most PS3 games don't even take up even a 1/3rd of a blu-ray disc.
    Marvel V Capcom 3 is only 3GB.

  • cowell #14 1 year ago

    This won't really help you if you're not connected to PSN. GAME stores are selling cards for XBLA games but essentially all they are is a redemption code which you buy on shelf and punch in to your 360 when you get home. I imagine Sony are interested in something similar.

    Initially I thought the scheme was pointless but I guess this opens the likes of Trials and Super Meat Boy to an audience who a) might have never heard of them, b) doesn't have a credit card so can pay cash and c) who might want to trade in physical games against digital ones.

  • uknortherner2000 #15 1 year ago

    If they're talking about putting PSN titles on disc, then I'll be interested. There are titles on there that I want to play, but there's no way I'm handing over any cash for games that can be "switched off" on Sony's whim. Considering the prices they charge for some of those games, I want something physical in my hands, not something virtual that's tied to a virtual account where the access can be revoked at any time.

    Negged down for what? Actually WANTING something for my money? Fuck's sake. No wonder these arseholes can walk all over consumer rights. Too many fucking sheep around.
    Edited by uknortherner2000 at 07/03/11 @ 11:11

  • Murton #16 1 year ago

    Wasn't aware that this was already done in the US, chalk up another thing that SCEA are doing that SCEE are not.

    Question, but who will be setting the prices for these code-cards? Publishers, Sony or retailers? Retailers would never agree to an increased price compared to the online store and they're going to take a cut surely, so we're looking at less money to publisher and more to the likes of GAME.

    Hypothetical for you all: how long before the likes of GAME run a promotion where when you buy a pre-owned EA game you get a discount on the online pass?

  • Zimo #17 1 year ago

    @mingster
    and that's still a hugely larger size than the majority of PSN titles

  • Toothball #18 1 year ago

    Well I'm all for this sort of thing. I had noticed the racks of pre-paid Facebook cards that have been popping up in Game stores, so why not have PSN offerings up there too? I'm in favour of anything that helps the general public get into digital distribution, as they're going to have to get used to it eventually.

  • mingster #19 1 year ago

    The article makes it sound like PSN games being put on a physical disc not just supplying PSN pre-paid cards.
    Which is it codes or discs?

  • asphaltcowboy #20 1 year ago

    Please don't refer to GAME as a specialist shop.

    I will allow "cunty", "bollocks" or "piss-taking"...

  • Cappy #21 1 year ago

    It's more like 80% of PS3s have been online at some point in their life rather than 80% being able to access PSN content at any time they're switched on.

    Some sort of PSN compilation discs would probably do well enough if the games were selected and grouped carefully, I already own an Asia only Pixeljunk disc which collects their first three games. I'd happily pay out for a disc that compiled thatgamecompany's Journey along with Flower and Flow.
    Edited by Cappy at 07/03/11 @ 11:52

  • Snowymonk #22 1 year ago

    I agree with Sony doing this. Rather than burn the games to disk, they could follow the lead of games such as Farmville and provide a credit card sized piece of plastic with a scratch / reveal panel.

    Then you spend your £6.29 (or whatever the price is) and the shop issues you a small plastic card. You scratch off the reveal strip and redeem the revealed unlock code in the online store to download the game.

    Plastic card printing is a lot cheaper than disk burning and would also help push down the ~15% of non connected playstations online.

  • randompanda #23 1 year ago

    But wait! How would Game sell these second hand?

  • Acrid #24 1 year ago

    Good news, something to spend my gift cards on where I won't feel like I'm being ripped off!

    Maybe they could put a compilation of games on a disc, say for instance a Pixel Junk collection or a collection with games like Flower, Linger in Shadows, FlOw etc.
    Edited by Acrid at 07/03/11 @ 12:28

  • Murton #25 1 year ago

    @UKnortherner - I don't see anything in your post that warrants a neg so I've countered it with a plus.

    I do however disagree with your comment about games being switched off at the whim of Sony, how is it any different to XBLA titles many PC retail titles or even the much beloved Steam? I'm yet to hear of a single case of a PSN title being "switched off" and I find the very concept a little hard to swallow, care to explain your logic on that?

  • Doctor_What #26 1 year ago

    EG: It would be lovely if you could ask Sony/MS/Ninty what happens to our download games in the next generation of consoles please? Do I still get to play my PSN download of Flower through my PSN account once I've transferred it to the PS4, will Rock Band songs move across, or Sing Star?

    I've spent a lot of money on downloads and I'm becoming increasingly worried that in five years time I won't be able to get to them without having the old hardware plugged in. This is making me start to be a lot more cautious about what I pay for online.

  • FuzzyDuck #27 1 year ago

    Putting PSN games on disc is a waste?

    Wipeout HD/Fury says "hi".

  • cowell #28 1 year ago

    There's nothing here that says they'll be putting PSN games on a disk

  • Rack #29 1 year ago

    Personally I'm not too worried about games being 'switched off' be it Steam, PSN or Live but lots of people are and it's equally valid to be concerned over PSN, Steam or Xbox Live titles.

  • Ryze #30 1 year ago

    Took long enough.

    Credit card sized ala Xbox live points / Prepay phone topup cards, with a scratch-off strip with a code.

    Saves navigating that godawful PSN store trying to find any content, anyway!

    /grumbles!

  • uknortherner2000 #31 1 year ago

    @Murton: "I do however disagree with your comment about games being switched off at the whim of Sony, how is it any different to XBLA titles many PC retail titles or even the much beloved Steam? I'm yet to hear of a single case of a PSN title being "switched off" and I find the very concept a little hard to swallow, care to explain your logic on that?"

    With Steam, all it takes is one malicious report, and you're locked out of your account, and your entire game collection you've amassed on it. This hasn't happened to me, but it did happen to a mate a few months back. In his case, it was someone he came up against on a HL2DM server, whom he basically beat. The next day, when he tried to play one of his Steam games, he found he had his account suspended with a malicious report filed against him.

    There is nothing to stop this kind of thing from happening to anyone, on any service, be it Steam, PSN or XBL. These days I tend to only buy games off Steam when they are in a sale (and prices are heavily marked down - I will not pay full price for digital downloads), and any independent PC titles I buy direct from the developer without having to put up with DRM, remote activation or any of that crap that the main distribution providers slap on their products. Plus, five years from now, I will still be able to play those games.

    Reading the EULAs (ignoring the fact that these things aren't enforceable in the UK, but then, since when did publishers ever pay attention to common law?) for these providers can be very illuminating in terms to what few rights you actually have.

    EDIT: To answer your other point about games being "switched off" - third party titles are only available by agreement with Sony, Microsoft or Valve. Once these agreements expire, these titles can be removed without warning (again, see the EULAs). In cases like Outrun, the game is merely hidden from anyone who hasn't bought it (still shows up in the download lists of those who have), but there is nothing to stop anyone from removing these games completely. Likewise, all three companies state that they can shut down services with only 30 days' notice without any compensation to you. If I buy something, I expect to own it for life, not for the life of the authentication server.
    Edited by uknortherner2000 at 07/03/11 @ 14:23

  • knightmt #32 1 year ago

    I wish they would rent games via download, then they could give a proportion to the developer.

  • PixelPirate #33 1 year ago

    @Murton
    I'm yet to hear of a single case of a PSN title being "switched off" and I find the very concept a little hard to swallow, care to explain your logic on that?

    The Outrun game got revoked last year, due to some licensing restrictions or whatnot.

    So it can happen, although i think its more of an edge case, than the norm.



  • cowell #34 1 year ago

    And that only happened because SEGA's license with Ferrari ran out. You can't buy it anymore but I still have my copy

  • Soton4084 #35 1 year ago

    Sounds like a good idea!