I feel if the internet and game buying websites becomes worst like slower or less reliable because of cyber attacks like DDoS, virus, and hackers, some people may more likely buy physical PC games again.
In the future, memory cards like SD cards and disc maybe able to store many TB of data per SD card or disc, and the SD Card or disc only cost a few dollars, so more game companies may sell many games stored on a SD card or disc which maybe cheaper and faster than using the internet to sell many games.
There are probably still many gamers who like the feeling of inserting a game or SD card into their computer to install a game.
I feel smaller size PC games can also be bundled with DVD/Blu-Ray movie disc as a way to convince people to buy the movie where they are also getting a PC Game on the same disc.
This would be nice since I would rather have a physical copy of game then a download link. Only problem is the cost overhead I don't think would be something the companies would want, It's easier to just send link. Also most new desktop PC's don't have a cd rom installed.
It’s possible that the lack of demand for physical copies of PC games was caused by how annoying developers got with anti-piracy measures on physical games. Sure there’s work arounds, but it did annoy people when it became more of a hindrance to buy a physical copy than a digital one.
I feel piracy/illegal-copying is one of the reasons physical games are not as popular for PC these days. I think game companies feel they are losing a lot of new game sales on PC when someone find out how to hack the copyright protection software on the copy of the game on a disc or usb, and giveaway the game for free to people like their friends, family members, or sell them for a few dollars to strangers on the street.
Plus, some PC game makers may not want people to re-sell physical disc games, so they can sell more new games on Steam and other online game stores which sometimes use online-only protection to prevent piracy of the game, or can ban you from playing the game if you are not playing a paid copy of the game you bought from a paid game website like Steam.
We're entering an all digital age. Limited physical mediums. Us Xennials (early millennials) have the desire to collect physical copies but it's a thing of the past.
When it comes to security, the answer would be beefing up security as much as possible.
If using discs to install games to a pc, I always try to install it in a way that allows me to play them without a disc! Sometimes it just won’t work that way… *Waves a cane at Safedisc and all publishers that implement it*
