Sony: Majority of gamers "don't want to buy online right now"

Physical discs aren't going away anytime soon, as most consumers "don't want to buy online right now," PlayStation marketing executive Guy Longworth has told GamesIndustry International.

"I think the reality is this: Our digital business is growing fast, and we have incredibly strong partnerships with our key retail partners as well," Longworth said. "What we try to do is offer a relatively level playing field and let the gamers decide. We're not trying to advantage them, we believe in consumer choice."

"It's clear that the vast majority of the people want to go down to GameStop or Best Buy, they don't want to buy it online right now," he added. "How that might change in the future is kind of hard to predict. People might be quite surprised, I think physical games will be around a lot longer than some people think."

All games for Sony's PlayStation 4 will be available digitally as well as through physical retailers. The same is true for Microsoft's Xbox One.

The PS4 launches later this year for $400, though Sony is exploring "many" different pricing options for the next-generation platform.