The sale of PC games at retail has dropped off over the past decade, replaced mostly by digital downloads. Still, NCsoft Europe managing director Veronique Lallier thinks that things like midnight openings and story incentives at a brick-and-mortar shop bring more awareness to a title than a digital retailer ever could.
Retail remains hugely important to us, said Lallier. Many retailers have a dim view of the PC sector but they know the one genre that continues to thrive there is the MMO. The High Street offers a great opportunity and focal point for both trade and consumers alike, particularly at release. You need only look at the continued popularity of midnight openings to know this.
There is a risk in always looking at the worst case scenario of a particular trend, Lallier added. In reality, genuine change takes place at a slower pace. PC games will undoubtedly drift online as delivery speeds improve and resistance to digital sales falls away, but we re a way off from seeing PC disappear from retail. There are always more avenues to be explored when it comes to driving retail sales. Whether this is promoting a game, time card or an exclusive item, we see it as an important ongoing process that can only be bettered by closer collaboration with all of our retail partners.
Source: MCV
