The two franchise top performers are joined by 2015’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III on the list of the Xbox One’s top 10 for April. Still, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also did well, with sales of the three consoles increasing by more than 160% over last year. For over half of the 42.9 million units sold, consumers opted to download rather than invest in digital copies. | Source: Shutterstock, WTF Call of Duty? VGChartz delivers comprehensive game chart coverage, including sales data, news, reviews, & game database for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Nintendo Switch & PC Mid tier stuff is … It's also easier to travel with a digital collection. PS4 was just 5 years and 7 months. Perhaps most interestingly was the finding that 2014 was the first year so far where digital* sales were greater than physical sales (52 % vs 48%) * Digital format sales include subscriptions, digital full games, digital add-on content, mobile apps and social network gaming Going into 2020, game streaming will undoubtedly be a topic of interest. Both physical and digital versions of Nintendo Switch games have their perks as well as their shortcomings. If you pre-order a digital copy of a video game you will either be able to download a copy immediately (being able to play it once the game is officially released) or download the game at the moment it is officially released. Digital vs Physical Switch games. UK-based writer covering the video game industry. Digital content won’t ever completely kill off physical media but will warp it into a niche product reserved for enthusiasts very much in the same way vinyl records are a collector’s item. To determine which route is right for you, you'll need to weigh the pros and cons of both physical and digital games against each other while considering how you plan on playing your games. The market for digital game downloads has changed a lot since then; Sony said a full 74 percent of its full game sales were digital downloads for … Sony's Q1 financial results reveal digital sales of games surpassed those of their physical counterparts for the first time. The real hurdle to further widespread adoption of digital games is the controversial topic of resale and trade-in functionality. Physical vs Digital—Why Physical Video Games Are Better. PlayStation 4 Digital Game Sales Overtake Physical. France showed even more startling growth, with a jump from 31% digital in Q1 2018 to 47% digital in Q1 2019. A luxury. Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. That’s a First, Sony's Q1 financial results reveal digital sales of games surpassed those of their physical counterparts for the first time. The message is clear: physical games are now a high-end, optional part of the console gaming experience. Historically, users are unable to resell or gift games bought on console storefronts held by Sony and Microsoft – except under specific circumstances. COVID-19: U.S. video game spending change as of April 2020, by age; COVID-19: increase in time spent playing video games worldwide as of March 2020 To them, it signals that physical, tangible games are going by the wayside. Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData, told The Huffington Post that digital game sales are trending upward while physical purchases are trending down. We assume the physical sales to be 60% of GameStop’s overall new video game software sales, which translates into $1.4 billion in physical sales. First-quarter financial results released by Sony today reveal that digital sales of … Additionally, the ability to pre-download titles in the days leading up to release means players can jump into the action quicker. Digital PlayStation 4 games have seen steady growth over the past few years, rising from 32% of total sales in 2017 to 37% last year. For consoles games are often indeed cheaper in physical form, even in the long run. Digital copies of video games are downloaded onto your video game system or associated storage device. The report also shows that the PlayStation 4 passed the 100-million-units-shipped milestone, seizing the coveted spot as the fastest console to do so, according to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad. A group of analysts believe that video game revenue will come entirely from digital sales by the year 2022. Physical game sales have been smaller and smaller each year, but are they still relevant? Browse Xbox sales and specials for deals on the latest Xbox games, consoles, accessories and more to take your play to the next level. Sony and Microsoft generally price digital copies higher, sometimes upwards of 10% compared to the physical versions – even on launch day titles. The biggest surprise was the reveal of two PS5 consoles -- a standard version with an optical drive for physical games and 4K Blu-ray discs, and a digital edition that lacks an optical drive. People are also buying more gaming hardware than compared to this time last year. The video game industry is constantly evolving and inspiring innovation. While both digital and physical games go on sale often, you'll typically find the best discounts on physical games. Game sales for 2020 have already topped $2 billion — and that’s for software sales alone. April was a record year for game sales, according to analyst company the NPD Group. Copyright ©2021 Designtechnica Corporation. From simple one-time purchases and single player experiences to full-priced and free-to-play games, the gaming industry has been completely reshaped throughout the last decade. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Horizons had a record launch for its exclusive Switch platform and quickly outpaced its predecessors. The allure of digital content needs no introduction; convenience plays a huge part, taking the need to visit a brick-and-mortar store or order online and wait for delivery out of the picture. In the third quarter of 2015, Electronic Arts, a massive video game publisher, made $666 million in physical sales and $480 million in digital, according to numbers provided by SuperData. More realistic is a tandem of models for each console: one offering a purely digital experience, the other a more powerful device capable of reading physical media. I have a CD case for my physical games, but it fills up quickly, so it's much easier to travel with a hard drive. Digital downloads on the platform accounted for 53% of full game software sales from the start of the year to June – a 10% jump on figures for the same period last year. And while 6% might not immediately translate to significant growth, this year’s quiet release slate, already mired by delays and disruption caused by the coronavirus, combined with Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One end of lifecycle lull makes just about any increase notable. Late 2020 will see the releases of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, and both systems will support digital and disc-based games. On the PC, unless you pre-order or have to play everything at release, sales make digital much cheaper. Email me | Bug me on Twitter. Additionally, a homogenization of pricing needs to happen as well. Between retail discounts, digital sales, used game deals from my local shops, and now subs, $60 day one purchases are rare for me. ... NPD Group uses data from both physical sales and digital downloads of games. | Source: Shutterstock. Faster than both the PS2 and Wii which were just behind. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has remained among the top-selling titles since its release in October 2019 making it the best seller of 2020 so far and of the last 12 months. Become a Patron, so we can produce more of the content you enjoy! Here, digital game copies have the consistent advantage of being available on the web, and can offer as many sales or bundles it takes to make a buzz overnight, which just is not as simple to do with physical copies. It took PS2 a total of five years and 9 months. This makes PlayStation 4 the fastest home console to reach 100 million unit sell in. The Xbox marketplace has crazy good deals. 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First-quarter financial results released by Sony today reveal that digital sales of PlayStation 4 games surpassed those of their physical counterparts, marking the first time the balance has shifted in the favor of digital content. PlayStation 4 Digital Game Sales Overtake Physical. Sales of CDs continue to slump as consumers turn towards music streaming services rather than owning physical media. For example, in Australia, Sony’s latest big release, Ghost of Tsushima , costs around $71 in the PlayStation Store, but retailers are selling physical copies for as low as around $49. Rumors emanating from the Microsoft camp suggest Project Scarlett already has two models dubbed Lockhart and Anaconda that fit the description. I still try to lean toward physical for games I will want in the collection 20 years from now. Best answer: If you value convenience, Xbox Play Anywhere, or Game Pass above all, digital is your best bet. Is digital really as dominant as people think? That companies are trying to replace their beloved, collectible physical games with less tangible alternatives they don't fully own. That’s a First. That whopping figure puts the industry sales 6% higher than this time last year. What’s more, digital games are … Amazon Prime members get 20 percent off new physical … The number of subscribers to Sony’s digital PlayStation Plus service also rose from 33.9 million in Q1 2018 to 36.2 million in the same time frame this year. NPD’s Group’s report states hardware spending for April grew by a massive 163% compared to 2019, from $160 million to $420 million. We don’t exactly know what they will sport under the hood, and although digital will continue to overtake physical media, it’s unlikely the next-generation will be the first to forego a disc drive entirely. And I'm running out of room to put physical games. Speculation aside, the ongoing growth of digital is inevitable, and the next-generation of console signals a cataclysmic shift not just in how consumers play games but how they buy them. Only vinyl records are holding their own in … All images not from Shutterstock.com has been sourced by NTB. Digital Sales are Beating Physical Sales According to the Latest Sony Data. Regardless of the hurdles still marring digital game sales, exclusively cloud-based gaming platforms like Google Stadia and Microsoft’s Project xCloud will stampede onto the gaming market shortly. If there’s any doubt about Sony winning this console generation, then today’s figures put the matter to bed. PS5 Digital Edition will be harder to find this holiday season than the standard PS5 with a disc drive, according to a number of sources and reports. Digital Copy. In Benelux, for example, 33% of AAA game sales were digital in Q1 2018 but 43% were digital in Q1 2019. And both Sony and Microsoft are willing to subsidize the move to digital. All rights reserved. September 23, 2020 UTC: 12:51 PM. Game sales were up 55% compared to April 2019, reaching a total of $662 million, according to NPD Group’s latest report, with Final Fantasy VII Remake taking the spot as April’s top-selling game. pic.twitter.com/g4Bk8sckYf. It’s followed by the long-running favorite Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and this spring’s massive hit, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was the top seller for March. Serving as a surprise standout is Just Dance 2020, a yearly franchise that hasn’t often gained much attention since it debuted in 2009 among the advent of motion-controlled play for the Wii and later the Xbox Kinect. A tranche of people will continue to find pleasure in the simple act of carefully pulling the plastic off a new game, catching a whiff of the factory-sealed PlayStation 4 box, and inserting a disc into a console. The data comes from the most recent earnings report from Sony, the Q1 FY2019 Consolidated Financial Results.This report covered the three months which ended on June 30 th, 2019.According to the data, Sony sold 42.9 million PS4 software units. Whether Sony follows suit remains to be seen, but a partnership with Microsoft to make use of the Azure server network suggests digital content will form part of the Japanese gaming giant’s next-gen strategy. NPD Group uses data from both physical sales and digital downloads of games. In Q1 2018 Nordics was the only market to have a higher proportion of digital sales than physical sales, at 53% digital. Call of Duty has another game among April top sellers with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Remastered coming in as the seventh-highest title. One super interesting section that VG247 picked up on is the one about digital game sales versus physical game sales. Because Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart compete with each other, they often have sales, making physical games cheaper than the digital versions. The best-selling platform was the Nintendo Switch, which continues to hold onto its top spot as the Sony and Microsoft’s competitors age out and prepare for the next generation to release later this year. By: Thomas Bardwell | Email. However, Just Dance 2020 is climbing the ranks, and it’s the fast-selling entry since Just Dance 2014. That means that gamers need to start working on upgrading hard drive space on their PCs and consoles because there will come a time when video games are no longer available in physical … This brought it up to the third highest-selling game of 2020 so far and the best-selling gaming on the PlayStation 4 this year. Game sales for 2020 have already topped $2 billion — and that’s for software sales alone. Video game sales continue to skyrocket with people all over the world staying home to follow social distancing requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic. While physical game sales are declining, PwC noted that digital will only be around a third of the console game revenues generated in 2020. Physical sales of CDs and vinyl took a massive hit to an already rocky foundation, down 23% for that time period. Apart from Google’s Stadia, details about Microsoft and Sony’s upcoming consoles are limited to speculation and generalized comments about using custom-designed AMD Zen2 Navi APUs and boasting X-amount more graphical processing power than the current crop of consoles. July 30, 2019 UTC: 2:45 PM. But as the RIAA notes, the industry’s revenue is still 40 percent below peak levels, and physical sales and digital downloads still have farther to fall. 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