to do this video right i need you to feel something and to do that i’m going to activate your nostalgia so do you remember what a new game smells like the feeling of a shellcase opening for the first time the anticipation as you pop the disc out and put it in your console here’s the thing for huge chunks of the gaming audience now none of those memories exist gaming just means choosing a download from a menu or entering a code from an email basically the physicality of the medium has changed how we interact with it with our senses has changed and now that new reality is solidifying physical games are becoming less viable for big companies that means indie teams are asking a bit of a question can we treat physical games with respect again how do we take them seriously there is the massive issue with preservation so essentially to answer all of these questions and see where gaming is going next well we first need to see just how bad it’s got at the risk of stating the obvious the tide has turned but we’ve got data so here’s what corporate financials revealed over the last week physical games really are not in a good place take capcom monster hunter wilds is the bestselling game of the year yet 94% of their sales last year were digital and of course when buying digital games is so convenient that’s obviously going to happen but it means a part of our experience with games has changed and it also means that preservation goes out the window that’s the other side an important side of today’s video and one i know you guys care about anytime we talk about preservation it blows up in the channel and in this case the preservation problem is pretty simple there’s no longer a physical backup by default that ship is obviously long sailed in pc consoles had been our hauled out and there is data to show it there are some games that still do well physically take family games like astrobot that still hits 55 to 60% physical sales in its mix you’ve got big mainstream games like say hogwarts legacy that have had massive physical numbers so the battle’s not over but here’s well how things really are changing nintendo right the classic game cart a massive thing in games preservation yet even nintendo was losing ground here they had been the champions of physical game sales but now they’re introducing a new game key card system where basically you have your physical card as a license then with that you unlock a digital download so it’s a weird halfway solution i suppose what they want to do is cover some of the increasing switch to like game cart costs and of course all of the ambiguity and craziness going on with tariffs and physical logistics they clearly want people to have a digital experience they want to be ehop first and so there’s a very clear message for the mainstream audiences it’s an obvious trend where the future of physical games is going to entirely be on enthusiasts people like you and me not the general public a little bit like how in the age of apple music spotify and all the big streaming services we’ve also seen a resurgence of the vinyl now for the exciting bit so lost and cold is a group that’s following a familiar path it’s one we’ve seen in other media like cinema where streaming is convenient but it lacks luxury it lacks prestige so cinemas try to treat screenings as events but in games that’s a little bit harder i mean some of us get nostalgic for a midnight release but convenience is king you preload your game you start playing the moment it unlocks it’s a good experience actually that’s what most people do want so game audiences obviously accept digital releases because they’re honestly kind of awesome and by now even when you buy a collector’s edition so often what you get is a code in the box not you know a disc with any content sometimes you’ll get a disc but the disc will basically have nothing on it so yes the tide has turned we’re not going back but we are going forward and that’s where lost in cult come in because they are offering an alternative they’re a group that have published art books vinyls and collector’s editions before they champion games as artistic products through their design work series which is awesome but now they’re applying the principle to physical games and trying to bring them back essentially what they’ll do is create bespoke collector’s editions for acclaimed titles and in so many cases that’s games that have never had a physical release before and that’s all with a mature coffee table book aesthetic the sort of thing meant for people who actually appreciate games as art the things you’d proudly display if you own them now they’re starting this with three award-winning games the excavation of hobs barrow immortality and thank goodness you’re here each one of these gets an addition the first in the series each box will have a full game it’ll be updated with bug fix patches and all that stuff and all the usual extras right art assets posters even a signed note from the director but here’s where it actually gets different because they also preserve the game’s context you’ll also in these find critical essays dev interviews and as they put it quote preserving not just the game but the story and artistry behind its creation that’s awesome now the price is a little bit more than digital but basically it’s respectful and it’s earnest about what these games actually are pieces of art and this then creates a luxury experience a reason to buy physical because this is the type of experience that digital simply cannot give you that then is a really good start but there is more in fact there is more than makes this actual preservation of games first up lost and cult is working with the does it play group they basically give a stamp of approval before production but only if games meet three criteria one that the game does not need the internet to activate core content two no downloads are needed to complete the game three all core content is on the disc so if you’re sick of patches day one patches well this isn’t a problem this will give you a complete experience and even better they’re also making sure that researchers and museums have got access to this content as well that’s awesome basically they’ll be able to use these additions as a long-term form of recordkeeping so i think both of these moves are pretty awesome essentially it’s a statement of intent that audiences can rely on that’s i think quite verifiable the idea being buy one of these games it goes in your console and it just works now that is a far cry from current physical releases where you pop a disc in and who knows maybe there’ll be a working game on it but uh you’ll have to pop it in and find out if you need a download before this new initiative there’s actually one more factor and this one really proves that it’s about preservation not just prestige they’re only making 1,00 to,500 editions at a time now these could go out of print rather quickly which is not preservation so what lost and cult did is they partnered with pm studios pm studios are going to make standard retail versions of each game now these will be half the price of the premium edition you get the same preservation promises you don’t get the premium rewards right the super luxury stuff but they exist as real games you can pop into a console and have actually work so this means that store owners can actually buy and distribute these physical copies players can buy them directly online now of course this won’t be you know a day one release thing they actually do need time to make a final patched version of a game and even at half price digital probably still will be cheaper but the point here is if you want a physical version of a game without online requirements drm limitations all that now it’s actually an option and this is what makes it actual preservation not just a prestige product and as brian brown who’s the head of publishing puts it here’s a quote our retail releases ensure no one is locked out of owning great games physically giving everyone a chance to play their favorites for decades to come internet connection willing or not because here’s the truth preservation in a vault say in a museum that no one can access or a library that’s got ridiculous ownorous terms looking at you esa you bastards we did a video on them a while back that’s not preservation that’s just hoarding and control what matters then is that you’re actually able to sell these as products you can make money off them which is good because in the real world without the money making sense none of this would exist and what’s neat is that the very expensive limited run 1,000 to 1,500 limited copy thing yeah that’s really damn expensive but it actually helps to fund the overall preservation initiative that’s making the economics make sense which kind of tells me that it’s not just a feel-good thing it’s quite literally hey if we want preservation to happen we actually need to make it work in the real world and that’s what makes this exciting it’s solving problems that have actually doomed previous efforts because for real preservation people need to be able to afford and access things so just a short run at a very high price that’s not ideal for preservation that’s why i’m kind of hyped for it lost and cult are basically ahead of the curve in the business model they’re running with here they’ve partnered with groups that are doing interesting things to help that mission and they seem to have got it right from the first reveal now some of you may be thinking that you’ve heard things like this before and you’re right this idea is not new solving preservation commercially is a thing we all tried that in 2015 with limited run games but uh 10 years and many controversies later yes um limited run games is a company that is not fit for purpose they ended up giving physical preservation a bad name degraded boards per rep just bad for commercial preservation which is actually what we want we want a market we want an economy and not one that’s based on hype speculation stuff now this all does also highlight a potential problem for lost and cult right their offerings are typically indie titles they’re games with a cult following it’s kind of in the name so basically it’s all about bringing modern games to physical while celebrating them for the most dedicated fans and ensuring they are playable physical and preserved which i absolutely love but there is a difference compared to say the initial mission of limited run these are not retro titles these are not small games they’re games with an existing audience that can be sold to and that does leave actual retro preservation kind of aside i mean limited run games at least had some successes there despite their faults basically they used their carbon engine to power emulators it was all pretty cool it ended up not really uh well ending it that well they lost a lot of credibility but the problem they were trying to solve of retro preservation is something that right now lost and cult are not really doing or at least they’re not starting there they’re in a very different place with a very very different target audience so is it a perfect solution i would say absolutely not obviously not this is a boutique retailer that is seeking a viable business model which i would say is obviously not bad it’s a model that aligns with good ethics they’re not doing ridiculous it’s one that makes them comfortable with their sales approach it was never going to be able to solve every preservation problem at once but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t celebrate the good here and that we shouldn’t learn from it we should and to actually save the history of video games we need to act in those learnings i mean even when industry trends say that physical preservation will stay niche this is looking promising and what did it take in a way not that much a plan right a decision-making that seems to respect everyone equally right the audience the developer the art form and importantly very importantly the need for profit earned in return for value added which is good that given consideration so it works for everyone in a world of slop don’t stand out by just tweaking slop be the person who is selling quality to people who value quality that’s why i like this and if we are to think about actually preserving retro games instead of just saying “hey everyone we should preserve these games because it’s an objective moral good or whatever.” i don’t think we should do that i mean we could it’s a good effort whatever but um you know what’s better creating a market giving people an opportunity to actually make money you do that by creating demand that’s what lost and cult have done in creating demand and creating a business model they facilitate preservation that’s going to be the solution and i hope that lost and cult eventually will make their way to some of those cult retro games and that then we can really see what it looks like when the past when what brought us to where we are is properly respected i mean hey remember that amazing collector’s edition of doom imagine if we could get that for way more so basically that’s that i’ve got no relationship with him never talked to him just kind of wish him the best