With digital games becoming more and more popular due to their convenience, brick and mortar retailers have been looking for ways to bolster sales of physical game copies. Quite frankly, there is answer seems to be a good one; why not just sell new games for cheaper than you can get them online? Both Amazon and Walmart have taken up this practice, selling physical copies of many new releases for $49.94 instead of the classic $60.
It’s pretty clear that this pattern is going to have a bigger impact than anticipated; even big titles like Mortal Kombat 11 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses were sold at this price for their physical copies. Another brand new title that came out on August 28th, Remedy’s Control is already receiving this treatment. Its physical copies are $10 off for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at Walmart and Amazon.
Granted, there is an extremely slight disparity; for some reason, the PS4 version of the game is selling for $50.94 at Walmart, while the Xbox One version is selling for $40.94 at the same retailer. Why this is the case is a mystery, but what is one dollar anyway? Both versions come with two day free shipping as well. Even Amazon is doing the same thing, with the PS4 version costing one dollar more than the Xbox One version.
However, it seems that Amazon’s stock of the PS4 version of Control is already running low, as it now says that you would receive your purchase within one to four weeks. For obvious reasons, you’d probably be better off using Walmart is you want the PS4 version of the game at this point. Thankfully the Xbox One version is still readily available, and you can get it shipped in one day if you have Amazon Prime.
Considering that many popular games are being sold at a lower than usual price even on the very day they release, it’s not a stretch to wonder if this is a pattern we’ll see a lot more of in the future, or even if it will become the norm for physical game copies. Maybe we can expect physical copies to always be sold at approximately $50 in the future? It’s a possibility, but considering that physical copies have been gradually phased out over the years, it probably won’t be a relevant possibility in the future anyway. For now though, it’s a great way to save money for us gamers.
