Don’t tell anyone, but I’m planning something big in August. See, that’s when Baldur’s Gate 3 finally comes out of Early Access, and I was thinking of getting the Collector’s Edition for my partner, who’s a lifelong Baldur’s Gate fan and alongside whom I rode out the pandemic by playing through the entirely of Divinity: Original Sin 2 in co-op. There’s a whole load of sentimentality there.
(and no, it’s probably not smart to make a birthday surprise public on the internet, but the last time she read my work online was when I was still writing tech guides, so I think my secret’s safe).
It’s a pricey pile of stuff, but as Collector’s Editions go it’s a real treasure trove: a cloth map, a chunky art book, a stunning 25cm diorama of a Mindflayer fighting a Drow, physical character sheets, stickers, an oversized metal die, and a whole bunch of other things, all contained in an ornate collector’s edition box.
But, as per the trend of recent years, there’s something missing at the centre of this collection–that precious (yet in reality, really quite cheap) object around which the whole thing orbits like planets around a star.
I am, of course, talking about the game disc. Instead of that rainbow-shimmering circle of multi-layered plastic, there is what appears to be a little card containing the Steam code for the game, which of course becomes completely redundant as soon as you’ve activated it.
Now, PC gamers especially may scoff at this, as the majority of us probably haven’t had a disc drive in our computers for around 10 years now, but console gamers may be a little more sympathetic. Despite the fact that at the last count nearly 80% of game sales of Playstation game sales are digital, the majority of gamers still prefer boxed games (as per Games Industry.Biz). And while there are no official figures to back this up yet, we do know (via Bloomberg) that the PS5 Digital Edition took (or is still taking) more time to become profitable than the disc-based version.
Despite this, Collector’s Editions of PlayStation games are also succumbing to digitisation, as we saw last year with the disc-less God of War: Ragnarok Collector’s Edition. That seems all the more bizarre given that millions of God of War: Ragnarok discs had been manufactured, and that the majority of PS4 and PS5 owners have a disc drive. The discs already exist, yet they chose not to give one to people who love the franchise enough to fork out for a Collector’s Edition? What’s going on?
There remains a sentimental attachment to physical discs that a card with a code on it just can’t provide. It gives us something tangible to hold onto with our game, which when you’re buying a bulky old Collector’s Edition of a given game, is exactly what you’re looking for. People often cite ‘convenience’ as a reason for preferring digital downloads, but it’s fair to assume that convenience isn’t a priority for the kind of people who opt for the Collector’s Edition. The whole point of a Collector’s Edition is that it’s physical and fiddly and every now and then you can crack it open to look carefully inspect all its bits and pieces. The idea that all this is ultimately a separate entity to the all-digital game you’re buying somehow makes it feel somehow incomplete.
In the case of Baldur’s Gate 3, where it’s likely that the vast majority of owners wouldn’t be loading the game up from a disc anyway, the disc at the heart of the collection wouldn’t just have to be a roundabout way of unlocking the game on Steam; it could contain digital artwork, the soundtrack, perhaps a little Easter Egg for those committed enough to boot up the disc. The disc itself could be adorned with art exclusive to the Collector’s Edition, so that even if you never took it out of its case, it would still be a little thing you could enjoy and admire at the heart of the collection.
Even with my old PS3 games, I like to sometimes just open the case, take out the disc, give it a little polish; something about this silly ritual just consecrates the game as mine. Physical games media is on the way out, I get that, but Collector’s Editions are an exception, because the whole point is that they’re physical, and a disc at their centre would mean a lot more to people than other bits of filler like a keychain or a character sheet.
