PlayStation Europe CEO: physical will stay “the norm” for at least five years

In an interview with CVG, PlayStation Europe CEO Jim Ryan thinks that respite the upsurge in the digital market, physical disks will remain the primary source of games distribution for at least the next five years, as well as increasing hybridity between the two models.

Ryan told CVG: “It’s interesting because previously the whole debate took a very binary approach. You either bought a game in a shop or online. But what we’re now starting to see the business adopt hybrid models where the retailer is able to play a really legitimate and substantial role in the digital value chain.

Also I would say, and certainly for the next five years, that disc-based distribution is going to be the norm.”

Ryan then went on to comment on the wildly varying average download speeds across Europe, suggesting the infrastructure for digital-only simply isn’t there yet: “If you take Uncharted 3’s file size, and look at the average internet speeds people have in Southern Europe, it would take about two days to download it. So discs are going to be around for some time yet.”

For the full interview with Jim Ryan, pop on over to CVG.