In addition to the altruistic benefits of digital distribution, Obsidian's chief creative officer, Chris Avellone, also loves because it might spell the end of second hand games sales.
"I love digital distribution," he started by listing the altruistic benefits. "For one thing, being environmentally conscious, I really appreciate that we're not making more boxes and shipping them and creating all that waste. It's better just to download the game through Steam and not have to have all that packaging."
Another benefit of digital distribution is the flexibility it gives to developers. "One of the things I enjoyed with Fallout: New Vegas was that digital distribution of the DLC made things more flexible in terms of getting the content done," Avellone explained. "You didn't have to worry about production times for discs, and so you could take an extra week if you needed that to get things right."
But the most important benefit for the creative director is not so selfless. "Of course, one of the greatest things about digital distribution is what it does to reduce the used game market," Avellone put it simply.
"I hope digital distribution stabs the used game market in the heart."
Obsidian Entertainment is best known for developing Fallout: New Vegas for Bethesda and Dungeon Siege 3 for Square Enix. The studio is currently working on the South Park MMORPG.
