When a game is published at retail, there’s manufacturing and distribution costs that have resulted in the now-standard $59.99 price point. How come we’re still paying full price for those games in digital forms, then? The biggest reason is that nobody wants to cross retail partners, who are still important to the industry ecosystem.

Sony, alongside several major third-party publishers, are about to cross that line with the new “PSN Day 1 Digital” program. The new service will offer games like NBA 2K13 and Dishonored, alongside several others, for $53.99 on the same day they’re available at retail shops like Best Buy and GameStop for $59.99.

There are some catches, though.

One, you have to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber ($50 per year), and you have to pre-order the game. Within those two caveats, however, those games and more will be available cheaper via PSN.

The full list, as announced by Sony today, is below, including details on games that aren’t cheaper:

• Resident Evil 6 (Available for download on October 2 - $59.99)
• NBA 2K13 (Available for download on October 2 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• Dishonored (Available for download on October 9 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• DOOM 3: BFG Edition (Available for download on October 16 - $39.99/$35.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• 007: Legends (Available for download on October 16 - $59.99)+
• Medal Of Honor: Warfighter (Available for download on October 23 - $59.99)
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Available for download on October 30 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• Assassin’s Creed III (Available for download on October 30 - $59.99)*

The asterisk means those games are available for pre-order. Resident Evil 6, for example, is not. The + means the 10% discount (in this case, 007: Legends for PS Plus members) is available for a week after launch.

Basically, there are a bunch of options for publishers who want to opt-in to this program.

This is a big moment for the relationship between platform holders, publishers, and retail. I’m curious to see how (if) retail responds. And it’s one more reason Sony’s making Xbox Live seem like a joke.

When a game is published at retail, there’s manufacturing and distribution costs that have resulted in the now-standard $59.99 price point. How come we’re still paying full price for those games in digital forms, then? The biggest reason is that nobody wants to cross retail partners, who are still important to the industry ecosystem.

Sony, alongside several major third-party publishers, are about to cross that line with the new “PSN Day 1 Digital” program. The new service will offer games like NBA 2K13 and Dishonored, alongside several others, for $53.99 on the same day they’re available at retail shops like Best Buy and GameStop for $59.99.

There are some catches, though.

One, you have to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber ($50 per year), and you have to pre-order the game. Within those two caveats, however, those games and more will be available cheaper via PSN.

The full list, as announced by Sony today, is below, including details on games that aren’t cheaper:

• Resident Evil 6 (Available for download on October 2 - $59.99)
• NBA 2K13 (Available for download on October 2 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• Dishonored (Available for download on October 9 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• DOOM 3: BFG Edition (Available for download on October 16 - $39.99/$35.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• 007: Legends (Available for download on October 16 - $59.99)+
• Medal Of Honor: Warfighter (Available for download on October 23 - $59.99)
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Available for download on October 30 - $59.99/$53.99 for PLUS members, with pre-order)*
• Assassin’s Creed III (Available for download on October 30 - $59.99)*

The asterisk means those games are available for pre-order. Resident Evil 6, for example, is not. The + means the 10% discount (in this case, 007: Legends for PS Plus members) is available for a week after launch.

Basically, there are a bunch of options for publishers who want to opt-in to this program.

This is a big moment for the relationship between platform holders, publishers, and retail. I’m curious to see how (if) retail responds. And it’s one more reason Sony’s making Xbox Live seem like a joke.

PSN is on a roll

I don't know about you, but if this is all Adam Boyes' doing, he is fucking KILLING IT.

Cool, I'll get Doom3 then!

Edit: Ahw dang!

Still, even if it is only 1 day and just a few dollars, it is a small step.

Hm. I don't think think this is going to add too many NEW customers. It might make some people who were already PS+ members buy more though.

I, for one, can't wait for Amazon's anti-Day 1 Digital counter-measure task force to assemble.

Preordering a digital download? What madness is this?

Wonder what retail is thinking now.

Preorder discount aside, being able to just buy new retail games online is pretty damn awesome!

Really wish XBox live Gold would copy this already so I would could renew it again. Plus is just too good, and I do love them takiing ideas from Valve.

This sounds neat and exciting; until they start charging £50 in the UK because that's what the RRP is over here. If you're paying £50 for a game, you're doing it wrong.

Good for sony. But as someone who mostly plays PC games now, 10% off a day 1 purchase seems like a pittance.

Microsoft is getting left behind in a alarming way.

Good on Sony! I'm impressed. Microsoft better be making a deal like this as well.

My measly hard drive weeps at announcements like this...

Digital downloads should be cheaper than retail for everyone. Hiding it behind a subscription is stupid.

HALO 3 CAME OUT 5 YEARS AGO TODAY. also this is cool too

I wonder if the same thing is going to happen to the EU PSN store they had SSX on there last week for download at £59 you can get it from Amazon for £20, of course that's a EA game and so they set the price but still no way anyone would pay that when you can get much more cheaper, It's a nice idea but it's needs every publisher to be involved not just a select few if digital only is going to be the way forward

Not much of a discount, and they arnt cutting out retailers. So thats good.

Nice to see somebody on the console side try something like this, I've already been used to deep cuts on recent releases on the PC side and it's fantastic. Hopefully MS wises up when the next consoles come around or else they will be the arrogant one left behind like Sony was out of the gate with the PS3.

Whoa. This is a pretty big deal. Good on ya, Sony.

Awesome, I may start subscribing to PS+

Sounds like they're really stepping their game up. I can't wait to see what the next console generation war is going to be like.

I wonder if we'll ever see the real numbers on sales of the download versions

A neat idea but a couple things kill this for me 
1. The download speeds of PSN are pretty lousy at times. Especially after stuff launches  
2. PSN usually updates at around 6pm or so EST. Add the long download time to this and your game won't be ready until 8pm or so.  
 
It's a great start though. I'd be willing to buy full games online if added stuff like midnight launches and preorder bonuses like retail gets.

I go back and forth on this. I mean, PSN is so slow to download anything. What is appealing to save $7 if it takes 7 hours to download it? You can almost always find it on sale on launch day anyway. Plus I like packaging.

This sounds very interesting. I wonder if Amazon will price match it?

I don't really know if I'm liking this "get cheap things" for PS+. Most of it is stuff that I wouldn't buy or already own (speaking more about the free games), and not to sound snobby or anything, but $5 off a new game doesn't really do it for me. Most of the games will be on sale at Best Buy for $39.99 in 2 months or so. I'd almost rather just save the $50 a year I have to spend on Plus.

They would have to offer pre-loading too, as downloading on the day (especially via PSN) would be so slow you wouldn't get it before day 2 of release.

Otherwise this is still really cool.

I wonder if sales tax is included in these prices? (I've only purchased one item on PSN, which was a very long time ago, so I don't remember if they charge tax or not) If there's no tax, that makes this an even better deal. I also agree that Sony is making a much better case for their service than Microsoft is for theirs.

That being said, until the next consoles launch, I'm mostly done with the current consoles, so I only care as a matter of curiosity. Playing games on my PC is so much better.

@heatDrive88 said:

I don't know about you, but if this is all Adam Boyes' doing, he is fucking KILLING IT.

This man has a point!

GAME BIG DAY 1. That sounds like something a caveman would scream.

These discounts seem really small after years of buying games on steam.

@Krataur said:

Preordering a digital download? What madness is this?

Never used Steam then?

If it was a permanent price drop that'd be one thing, but requiring pre-orders makes it kind of pointless. There is usually at least one retailer selling the full box game for cheaper than that if you pre-order. They need to just knock $10 or so off the price of digital games, forget this pre-order nonsense.

Whoa. Remember when PSN felt like a joke?

Why not state the 17.00 for 3-month PS Plus plan?

I always shy away from digital downloads when there is a similarly priced retail disk. I save a lot of money reselling games.

And pre-ordering a digital download is madness, as a digital download has infinite supply.

Great idea.

+1 to wishing MS did this. I hate that I have multiplayer 360 games on discs because I don't want to be fishing for discs when the urge to play a round here or there hits.

@Shortbreadtom: And now xbox live seems that way.

It's interesting how many people say they don't really use PSN because "all their friends are on the 360." But from my experience, more people are just watching Netflix. If you and your friends got together and decided to use the ps3, problem solved?

@Terranova said:

I wonder if the same thing is going to happen to the EU PSN store they had SSX on there last week for download at £59 you can get it from Amazon for £20, of course that's a EA game and so they set the price but still no way anyone would pay that when you can get much more cheaper, It's a nice idea but it's needs every publisher to be involved not just a select few if digital only is going to be the way forward

This.

Wasn't it £50 for Borderlands 2 as well? That's more than you could get it from Amazon. Same is happening with Assassin's Creed III.

Well, it's progress I suppose.

Sweet. Too bad my harddrive is always full and I'm constantly deleting games to make room. Plus I fear the future of not having physical copies and not being able to retrieve games I purchase digitally through PSN. Not a problem now of course... except with their movies. Bought a movie but deleted it because I needed the space. Wanted to rewatch the movie later but PSN doesn't allow you to redownload movies you bought... it acts like you never owned it.

Well, here’s a thought:

Does that mean if you buy a PSN Day 1 digital version (ex: pre-ordered Dishonored at $53.99 w/ PS Plus subscription), would you lose access to that game if you reach the end of your PS Plus subscription and chose not to renew it?

PC gaming master race checking in here. Oh thats a start buddies, good job Sony.

@daedelus: Preloading games is pretty nice. PSN's done that before, with Sorcery. Hopefully they do that for this.

and @RoninAutomaton: PSN+ games only expire if they are free. Any money transactions are simply discounts and the game acts as normal.

To the people who will complain that this isn't enough of a discount, you should remember that, of the 60 USD, only about 7 goes to manufacturing and distribution. So at 53 they actually are giving you all the benefits.

I'm not sure this is that big of a deal. I think this only helps out people who buy a lot of new games. For me personally, the fact that you have to a PS Plus member kinda sucks. I usually only buy 3-4 $60 games a year, so if I'm dropping an extra $50 just to get them for 6 bucks cheaper, then it's not really worth it.

This is awesome, I love being able to download game day-and-date on my VIta.

@wumbo3000 said:

I'm not sure this is that big of a deal. I think this only helps out people who buy a lot of new games. For me personally, the fact that you have to a PS Plus member kinda sucks. I usually only buy 3-4 $60 games a year, so if I'm dropping an extra $50 just to get them for 6 bucks cheaper, then it's not really worth it.

PS Plus is great tho. That's like completely disregarding it.

The membership pays for itself with all the free games they give you. Given you actually want the games they offer. I had PS Plus for a year and enjoyed the offerings. The one hour game trials were also pretty nice... essentially demos.

Playstation 3 has over the past couple months overtaken the 360 for me as my primary console. And it's stuff like this (along with everything else Plus has been doing) that has made it so desirable to do!

The discount isn't significant but at least it sets an interesting precedent. Hope this evolves into something more competitive.