The Zoomer Obsession With DVDs Is A Blueprint For Saving Gaming

We ask independent stores if young people are turning up for hard copies as well as the barriers they face

The Zoomer Obsession With DVDs Is A Blueprint For Saving Gaming

We ask independent stores if young people are turning up for hard copies as well as the barriers they face

Zack Kotzer

Published March 1, 2026

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RATNEST

Last week the Los Angeles Times reported on a surprising trend among young people. Physical media sales, DVDs especially, are experiencing a new burst of popularity. After a decade of freefall, enthusiasm among Gen Z halved a 20 percent sales decline in 2024 to just 9 percent in 2025. Stores have noticed. The Times’ Karla Gachet spoke with staff at cultural hubs like Cinefile and Vidiots to discover why 2026 is already shaping up to be their biggest year, with the latter renting a surprising 1,000 DVDs a week.

It begs the question, could this pleasant trend take hold in video games too? “I definitely notice that younger people are actually interested in seeing where the game series of today first originated,” Daniel Teixeira of the long-running Toronto indie shop A&C Games tells Kotaku. “It’s cool how some are taking such a historical approach and paying respect to the roots.”

For DVDs, it’s no mystery. There’s a perfect storm for a new fascination with physical media. Big names like A24, Criterion, and Letterboxd are fostering a new generation of cinephiles who are engaging with more than just routine tentpole blockbusters. On the other end, Netflix and other major streamers are failing to service a generation that actually cares about film. They are raising fees and playing ads, all while the relentless streaming war consolidation is tossing back catalogues into a black hole.

The vinyl revival amongst millennials was partly about fidelity, partly about prestige. The return of DVDs is about necessity. The only practical way to dependably enjoy the films you love without corporate interruption is to own them on plastic. Add in some interesting third spaces to chat with like-minded folks and mill around in and suddenly you’ve got a burgeoning new scene going.

The conditions rhyme in gaming. Mass distribution has overwhelmingly gone digital. Frustrations with curation, censorship and long-term access are as concerning here as anywhere else. The ennui from frictionless blockbuster releases is also clear. Players are picking up fewer games, and those who play the most are sticking with games released years ago. It has provoked the likes of Sony and Xbox into half-baked or shortsighted responses, like live service and AI, leading to results that will inevitably shrink both the industry and the diversity of releases, and intensify disinterest.

But there are gaping chasms between the two mediums as well. Film and music survive because of the efforts of movie houses, rental, and record shops. Games have historically thrived in permanent third spaces like stores and arcades, but those traditionally put commerce before culture. When you think of them, you think of how much, or how little, is in your wallet. Games culture has more recently thrived in competitive spaces and online file sharing sites, though digital spaces are even more precarious than real ones.

Teixeira shared these concerns. While young people are interested in exploring the past, the price point has been a barrier, making the pursuit “elitist” as a result. “I feel bad at how much they need to spend to acquire physical copies,” says Teixeira. “Ever since the pandemic, being able to collect older video games is far more difficult, particularly with whatever is most popular.”

It puts a lot of pressure on used stores, whose sellers need to respect rising prices to attract goods, even if it locks out younger fans. Correcting this negative feedback loop requires an unorthodox approach.

[How much for Sculptor's Cut????]

Photo by the author

Diamonds in the rough

Since opening four years ago in San Bernardino County, RATNEST has also noticed the uptick in younger customers. “My younger demo has seen a significant increase,” says store purveyor Robbie Ratnest. “Especially with the kind of more obscure titles I carry involving anime, as well as the Japanese/Eastern horror, drama, tokusatsu, kaiju, etc. They’re very much looking for more than what modern media is offering for an average experience on top of it.”

RATNEST looks a little less like your traditional games store and more like a punk haunt. The original walls are lost behind a mosaic of stickers and old TV feeds. The lighting is dramatic, darkness pierced with bangs of purple and static hums. The trail of vintage games, arcade cabinets and vinyl is like a treasure hunt. Robbie tells me that after working in “far too many places that do not reflect what they claim to be about,” he wanted a space that reinforced the culture first, the cash second.

“I’m not here to make money, I make money to be here,” says Ratnest. “We generally shun those who are very outspoken about flipping games or getting them graded. Absolutely do not give a shit about that. I want these games in people’s hands who want to enjoy them.” Even if it puts his retirement in peril, he’d rather games be enjoyed than fed into another speculative asset market that overshadows the entire scene.

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