Sony has confirmed that retail will play a key role in the success of the PlayStation 4, despite having just spent $380 million to acquire cloud-based gaming service Gaikai.

SCE UK boss Fergal Gara has told MCV that the company expects to remain heavily committed to the high street when their next generation console launches. “Coming down off that 2008 peak has been a steep ride for many and has involved fallout on many levels, not least of all retail,” he said. “We’d love to see as many of those retailers as possible maintain their interest in servicing the space because clearly down the road many of us are going to be doing our best to give another injection into the market whenever the next cycle starts.”

Despite the number of retail stores slowly falling, it will remain an important part of video game sales for at least the next five years, probably even longer. The uptake of digital sales simply isn’t enough to cover the loss of retail at the moment, and until it is there will be a place for retail outlets.

Will retail video game stores always be around?