Collecting physical video games used to be simple. You bought a disc, popped it in, and the whole game was right there. But a new release from Square Enix for the PlayStation 5 is showing just how much things have changed for disc lovers.
The company recently put up the “Life is Strange Collection” for sale on its Square Enix Store. It costs $60 and promises to bring together all the games from the series, from the very first one all the way to “Double Exposure.” On paper, it sounds like a perfect package, a single disc to own the complete saga.
Here’s the rub for those who cherish physical media: the disc itself only holds two of the games. You’ll find “True Color” and “Double Exposure” ready to play directly from the Blu-ray. But what about the other titles in the collection? For those, players get a separate code. They’ll need to punch that code into the PlayStation Store and download the rest of the content. This approach has left many fans who prefer physical copies feeling let down.
This isn’t the first time Square Enix has rolled out a physical game package in this fashion. We saw a similar situation with the “Dragon Quest 1&2 HD-2D Remake.” That collection also relied on codes for some content, and its physical release was even limited to the Nintendo Switch. It feels like a clear signal that physical disc sales might not be a top priority for them anymore. For collectors who want every bit of a game stored on a disc, it’s a sign that the times are indeed changing.