The Changing Face of Games – Hookshot Inc. Launches, Dedicated to Budget-Friendly Downloads

The launch of Dear Esther earlier this week, and its unexpected success at a $10 price point on Steam, Valve Software’s digital download store, highlights an ongoing change in the games market. Last year, sales of “boxed product” fell 8%, against a recession-led industry contraction of 2% overall. This is a real problem not just for games publishers but for many related industries. In the United Kingdom Game, the dominant high-street games store, and HMV, the last of the big physical media storefronts, have been making ominous noises. In the US, GameStop is experimenting with a move into cloud-based games services.