Take-Two thinks gaming is "100% digital in 5-20 years"

Good old fashioned brick and mortar shops are finding it increasingly difficult to post satisfying profits when it comes to selling games. This is mainly due to the fact, that digital storefronts have become more prevalent during this past console generation, while online retailers are taking much of the market share for actual physical copies. As a result, all the data seems to point in on incontrovertible direction, and Take-Two now says, that gaming will go fully digital in the near future. It makes sense for publishers, of course, as it leaves them a bigger piece of the pie.

Recently, Take-Two president Karl Slatoff spoke to GamesIndustry, and here he speculated that it may take around 5-20 years for gaming to be "100% digital", spelling the end of traditional retail.

"I think over the long-term, it will be 100% [digital]. I just can't predict whether that's five years, 10 years, or 20 years. It's probably less than 20 and maybe more than five, but I think it ultimately gets there. That's the zeitgeist. Things are moving in that direction.

"Why I think it's a little quicker than people imagined is honestly, Sony and Microsoft have done a really nice job with their services. You've got more people on Xbox Live, more people on PSN, and it helps. The friction is going away at a quicker rate because these platforms have been really well developed, and the consumers love it."

However, despite the direction the business is headed, the majority of sales is still physical, meaning that publishers like Take-Two won't abandon the retailers anytime soon.

"The truth is physical retail is still the majority of our business, and very important partners of ours. And we want to do everything we can to support that environment. And we do. They're very strong marketing and distribution partners for us. But again, it's out of our control. Whether we want it or not, it looks like it's going to happen eventually."

What do you think?