Is the Death Nell Sounding for the Game Disc?

(Original image from: Oxford Museum of Natural History)

I blogged just the other day about the Tom the Video game lawyer's article about the benefits of digital media distribution in video games. Today I happily follow that post up with a discussion of this article from GI.biz discussing the possible extinction that looms for physical video game discs. In the article, Rob Fahey says:

"This isn't a minor upheaval in the business of getting content to consumers, it is a fundamental change to how that entire value chain works. Certainly, there are those who will argue that physical product is going to be important for decades until they're blue in the face, but it can be argued that this is simply because they don't understand the sheer scale of the change that this industry is about to witness."

As I write this, I am waiting for a demo to download via XBox Live. It is a 440.89 MB, fully playable version of The Outfit, set to hit shelves in three weeks. It is a game that I wouldn't have thought to buy, but thanks to digital distribution and the ease at which I can "try before I buy," I will likely consider a product I would not have bought before. This same strategy worked with Fight Night Round Three, a game I purchased the day it came out b/c I was so impressed with the online demo. Imagine how many more games will be bought in this fashion when we don't have to trudge out of of our cozy homes on launch day of a title, to fight a crowd at the store and face the prospect of having the game sold out b/c it wasn't reserved it at Game Stop or EB Games. I'll go through this antiquated exercise tomorrow, when I'll probably have to call about 3 or 4 different stores trying to find a copy of the highlly anticipated Ghost Recon Advanced War Fighter (and I still might not get a copy).

(Original image from: UB Simulation & Digital Entertainment)

The intellectual property point is this: when we stop fearing change and embrace the inveitable turning tides of technology, we see that new markets are created for the owners of that IP. Customers can be reached that would not have been reached before. Sure some people will still want to buy the physical discs themselves and relish the experience of "getting their hands on" the new game. But the future looks ripe for a world where there are less boundaries, more possibilities and bigger audiences. What does this mean for attorneys and the legal profession? A whole new body of law involving digital rights that touches commercial law (is a digital download a good under the UCC?), copyright, trademark (I'm a huge fan of in game product placement), patent, and more. There is so much to learn and discover, and I am excited to be a part of it.