Bloober Team Vows to Keep Physical Games Alive 'As Long As Possible'

Ever wonder if your game shelf will become a relic of the past? Not if Bloober Team has anything to say about it. The studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake wants to keep making physical versions of its games "for as long as possible."

In a recent interview with GamesRadar, CEO Piotr Babieno opened up about why physical media still matters to him and the team. He pointed out that we've hit a point where better graphics and sound don't necessarily make games more engaging. "The game can have a slightly higher resolution and maybe better lighting and whatever, but will it make it a more engaging game? I don't think so," he said. Plus, stats show most players are still gaming on hardware that's five, seven, or even more years old—and they're not any less interested in games because of it.

So what's next? Babieno is more interested in "thinking about other senses." That mindset is shaping Bloober's new Switch 2-exclusive 2.5D horror game, Onyx: The Dark Group, from subsidiary Broken Mirror Games. The goal? "Putting horror back in your hands." As Babieno put it: "As humans, we have four other senses, and AI can deliver something for what you see, for what you hear, but why not touch? I think the physical element of gaming will always, always be there."

Of course, physical games are a hot topic right now. Sony is ending disc releases for PlayStation games, and Rockstar is going disc-less for GTA 6. Babieno gets why—"digital distribution is much easier, much cheaper, and will be more profitable for everyone"—but he still feels strongly about the emotional side of collecting. "Collecting games also [made] an emotional connection between the game and me, between the studio which produced the game and me," he explained. "This little emotional touch is so important that, I think in some way, we would lose the opportunity of being closer with our fans [without it]. So, if we are able to produce a [physical] retail version of our games, we would like to make them for as long as possible."

Broken Mirror's executive director, Tymon Smektala—who joined from Techland earlier this year—shares that passion. "If I could unblur my screen, you would see lots of stuff behind me and I have lots of stuff that's not even in the camera, so this is what gaming is to us," he said. "This is the gaming I know, and this is the gaming I expect. And as long as it will be possible, and as long as the big decision makers will allow us to have that, then of course I'll be into that."

Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake launched for PC and PS5 in 2024 with a physical disc version. But supporting that for future games will get trickier when Sony ends disc support in 2028. The Silent Hill 1 remake was announced last June and still has no release date—so it's unclear if it'll arrive before that deadline.

What do you think? Will you keep buying physical games as long as they're around? Let us know in the comments!