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[tTHANOSs]

And this is why physical only sales charts only tell a part of the story.

Ahh yes the 90,000 digital sales of a software on Xbox compared to 10,000 physical. Xbox selling 13% more digital games then playstation won't change the numbers much when playstation is selling more digital all together.

 

[mckmas8808]

Of course nothing beats physical discs on consoles when it comes to value (and ability to sell) but we know where this is going...

Where is it going?

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

And this is why physical only sales charts only tell a part of the story.

Digital ain't making Xbox compete with PlayStation software sales, buddy. The gaps are too significant for digital to suddenly make them competitive, even in America.

You might get a couple exceptions here and there i.e COD perhaps but it doesn't change anything for most 3P games, especially Japanese ones (hello Capcom leak o.0).

 

[LiquidMetal14]

AL BUDNY

 

[ReBurn]

Switch is the only system I still buy physical games for.

 

[Bojji]

Where is it going?

No physical media at all.

 

[Unknown?]

PC is long gone when it comes to physical games BUT there are many options to obtain games digitally vs. ONE.

Locked console ecosystems are the worst kind of DD.

Hmm but most gamers are on proprietary operating systems and are at the whim of the OS issuer.

 

[tTHANOSs]

I still enjoy buying Nintendo game cartridges. They are small and easier to store and I just recycle the game cases.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I love when evidence comes out that destroys people's worldviews...

 

[Fake]

Shame about PS5 users.

 

[Mr Hyde]

As a physical collector, seeing this data hurts... Physically.

 

[yogaflame]

Call me old fashion but I love the feeling that I actually own the game physically and I can collect it and admire and appreciate it. I will still go with physical as long it is available ( I hope it will be available in Ps6 and beyond)

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Vocal minority as usual making the most noise.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Shame about PS5 users.

 

[Mr Hyde]

I will most likely go with Nintendo + PC in the future. Sony will probably ditch physical by next generation, or make it optional with an attachable disc drive or some stupid shit. LRG will probably hog 80% of the physical releases so ain't gonna bother collecting more. If I'm gonna go digital only, PC is the only platform that makes sense. I don't want to be locked in with digital purchases in a consoles walled garden.

 

[CLW]

Wait people buy stuff on XBOX?

 

[Unknown?]

Digital gamers are actually not gamers because they are playing licenses.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

Competitive against whom? That's not how it works.

Publishers set the prices for their games. Why would they price their games lower on a different storefront? Unless they own their own store since they dont have to pay store owner's cut but if we are to go by what PCMR thinks these publisher owned storefronts are a crime against humanity.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Again this lie. Most indie games have no physical edition. You need to compare game by game in both versions for an accurate report. This is as wrong as those surveys claiming gender parity in gaming.

 

[Three]

Wait people buy stuff on XBOX?

10 sales of said stuff, 1 physical, 9 digital. I jest, I think people still buy stuff on xbox the shrunken install base and GP hasn't done them many favours in that regard but people still do buy games.

It would be interesting to get averages for digital sales splits despite this percentage difference. Their digital to physical sales would expectedly be skewed with their cheap console having no disc options but I suspect Playstation and even Nintendo outdo their digital sales by some margin with their digital sales.

Again this lie. Most indie games have no physical edition. You need to compare game by game in both versions for an accurate report. This is as wrong as those surveys claiming gender parity in gaming.

This report tweet is for games with both disc and digital. The wording is weird though. I think you might be right and it's all title tracking.

 

[Shadowstar39]

I don't need multiple store fronts.

That's what you PC guys complain bout constantly.

No, we complain about epic and their shit store and no reviews, per game forums or mod workshops. or ubisoft connect which if you buy a game somewhere else you still have to use their shitty launcher.

When someone says multiple ways to pay for pc games they mean key selling sites. When games go on sale at steam key sites will buy a ton of them for cheap. Then when the sale is off they sell the keys at a tiny markup so it's still on sale but they make their money. It's a great thing. There is also gog which is the closetest competent competitor to steam. It has Drm free games and makes it's big thing old games. They patch them and make them playable on modern hardware.

 

[Radical_3d]

Guys, we’ve lost the Americas.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

No, we complain about epic and their shit store and no reviews, per game forums or mod workshops. or ubisoft connect which if you buy a game somewhere else you still have to use their shitty launcher.

When someone says multiple ways to pay for pc games they mean key selling sites. When games go on sale at steam key sites will buy a ton of them for cheap. Then when the sale is off they sell the keys at a tiny markup so it's still on sale but they make their money. It's a great thing. There is also gog which is the closetest competent competitor to steam. It has Drm free games and makes it's big thing old games. They patch them and make them playable on modern hardware.

Then you guys should all be in favor of a PlayStation storefront

But anytime that’s brought up your group generally starts bitching about only wanting Steam

 

[asdasdasdbb]

When someone says multiple ways to pay for pc games they mean key selling sites. When games go on sale at steam key sites will buy a ton of them for cheap. Then when the sale is off they sell the keys at a tiny markup so it's still on sale but they make their money.

I don't think that's the case. Originally it was pretty obvious that CDKeys got it's start by buying keys in cheap countries and selling that key in countries where the price was higher. Hence the need for VPN at times.

Normally you would think that Valve could easily kill this by ending regional pricing... but I suspect Valve doesn't care (?) as long as it drives traffic to Steam to eventually get players playing their F2P games.

I am kind of wondering if some of those sites have gotten ahold of keygens and are just selling fraudulent keys.

 

[Futaleufu]

Digital gamers are actually not gamers because they are playing licenses.

How about people who play in arcades?

I bought my last physical PC game 15 years ago. I'm glad I did, otherwise I would need another house just to store the thousands of game boxes I would be hoarding,

 

[ExtendEmbraceExtinguish]

10 sales of said stuff, 1 physical, 9 digital. I jest, I think people still buy stuff on xbox the shrunken install base and GP hasn't done them many favours in that regard but people still do buy games.

It would be interesting to get averages for digital sales splits despite this percentage difference. Their digital to physical sales would expectedly be skewed with their cheap console having no disc options but I suspect Playstation and even Nintendo outdo their digital sales by some margin with their digital sales.


This report tweet is for games with both disc and digital. The wording is weird though. I think you might be right and it's all title tracking.

I went digital only. Last gen and downloading was the final straw.

 

[Three]

I went digital only. Last gen and downloading was the final straw.

The only physical game I own this gen is Elden Ring. The reason is mainly due to things like owning Playstations in different locations (don't need to lug a disc collection around), plus portal/streaming as an option, but I will forever own and encourage consoles with physical drives. People who try to push for their removal as an option or wish for physicals death will never make sense to me.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

People who try to push for their removal as an option or wish for physicals death will never make sense to me.

It feels inevitable but I also think it's going to be mostly up to whether big retailers care or not. There's probally a percentage where they lose interest.

 

[poppabk]

Digital gamers are actually not gamers because they are playing licenses.

That's all anyone is playing. So there aren't any gamers - except the ones who make their own games I guess.

 

[chokotoureiki]

I went digital only. Last gen and downloading was the final straw.

Same. A lot less hassle like saving space and not worrying about losing discs or damaging them. I used to have a huge collection of physical games but sold almost all of them cuz it was becoming a pain to move them as I travel a lot.

 

[reinking]

I like physical games for some of the same reasons I still like physical books. There is no limit to how many times, or with who, a physical game (or book) can be shared. Many times, when I complete a game (or book) I pass it on to someone else.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Again this lie. Most indie games have no physical edition. You need to compare game by game in both versions for an accurate report. This is as wrong as those surveys claiming gender parity in gaming.

Isn't it clear that this pertains to all titles with "both physical and digital"?

But lets say it isn't, and these numbers are padded by the indie sales.... then that's a LOT of indie sales.

Any way it's spun, though, 78% of your total sales being digital paints a very clear picture. And exact numbers like that make Sony make the disc drive optional.

 

[Boss Mog]

Can we please stop with the fake news. This is 100% fake news and I really hate how it's used to justify that "physical is dead".

The truth is that the vast majority of games available on the PS Store are digital only. All DLC sold on the PS store is also digital only. So of course sales in dollars or amount of software sold will skew heavily towards digital. But if you look at AAA titles which have a physical version individually, you see the actual truth and the split for each title is nowhere near 78% for digital.

 

[Three]

Isn't it clear that this pertains to all titles with "both physical and digital"?

But lets say it isn't, and these numbers are padded by the indie sales.... then that's a LOT of indie sales.

Any way it's spun, though, 78% of your total sales being digital paints a very clear picture. And exact numbers like that make Sony make the disc drive optional.

I think it's not that clear. I think he meant all titles where they had digital data available in addition to the retail data they get but I don't think it excludes digital only releases from the stats. It's not just indies anymore that have digital only releases. The stats from publishers like sony who have very good physical support don't show this large a percentage split from the leaks we have.

He even says this after

Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social)

This doesn't represent true demand, however. Retailers have been more conservative in its assortments and buys, while publishers have been more aggressive in promoting digital. Lots of reasons for both, but it can be tough for consumers to find physical versions of games they'd like to buy.

bsky.app

 

[ArtHands]

Publishers set the prices for their games. Why would they price their games lower on a different storefront? Unless they own their own store since they dont have to pay store owner's cut but if we are to go by what PCMR thinks these publisher owned storefronts are a crime against humanity.

Publishers do work with 3rd party digital stores to offer their own discounts. Take for example, the current selling prices of Red Dead Redemption 2. 68% discount on Fanatical and Newegg but 0% on Steam and EGS.

Its 2025 soon. Try to keep up with the concept of digital gaming.

 

[Crayon]

You forgot PC there pal?

 

[Ebrietas]

Ahh yes the 90,000 digital sales of a software on Xbox compared to 10,000 physical. Xbox selling 13% more digital games then playstation won't change the numbers much when playstation is selling more digital all together.

The software splits between ps and xbox are more likely to widen when you include digital.

Those UK game sales numbers will look a lot different when digital is included. But not in the way xbox fanboys were hoping.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Do better PlayStation bros. What happens when you lose your account on some new woke AI social media scanner dystopian bullshit? Didn’t your mama never teach you not to keep all your eggs in one basket. You sold your soul for convenience boys. Sad part is, it ain’t THAT much more convenient. Pure laziness and lack of forethought.

 

[Three]

You sold your soul for convenience boys. Sad part is, it ain’t THAT much more convenient. Pure laziness and lack of forethought.

Nah it's pretty inconvenient for me. I travel between countries and have a console at multiple places. I'm not checking in a suitcase full of discs every time I travel. I do want physical to live forever and I support its existence but there is no denying it's a little inconvenient for me personally and it has nothing to do with laziness.

 

[onQ123]

Do better PlayStation bros. What happens when you lose your account on some new woke AI social media scanner dystopian bullshit? Didn’t your mama never teach you not to keep all your eggs in one basket. You sold your soul for convenience boys. Sad part is, it ain’t THAT much more convenient. Pure laziness and lack of forethought.

It's way more convenient to have all your games on the PS5 especially when you have portal & can play the games away from home or even in different rooms.

 

[chokotoureiki]

Do better PlayStation bros. What happens when you lose your account on some new woke AI social media scanner dystopian bullshit? Didn’t your mama never teach you not to keep all your eggs in one basket. You sold your soul for convenience boys. Sad part is, it ain’t THAT much more convenient. Pure laziness and lack of forethought.

The bank owns your house too. You may own it, but they can still take it away from you.

 

[Three]

Publishers do work with 3rd party digital stores to offer their own discounts. Take for example, the current selling prices of Red Dead Redemption 2. 68% discount on Fanatical and Newegg but 0% on Steam and EGS.

Its 2025 soon. Try to keep up with the concept of digital gaming.

He's aware of that already and saying the reason they might possibly undercut on a different store is due to other benefits for the publisher like the store cut being less. He then goes on to say "but if we are to go by what PCMR thinks these publisher owned storefronts are a crime against humanity". He's mostly right, publishers do try this with EGS and their own stores to cut costs but there is very little reason for the publisher to give the consumer a better deal on a different store for digital content. I'd argue that even when costs are lower (in their own digital store or EGS) they use it to drive further profit rather than cost cutting for the consumer.

 

[ZehDon]

Again this lie. Most indie games have no physical edition. You need to compare game by game in both versions for an accurate report. This is as wrong as those surveys claiming gender parity in gaming.

Reading a little, these figures only come from games where there is a physical version to compare to. There is room for error, however, due to the way retailers report their info. We're talking percentage points though, not the entire figure. So, by and large, these figures are indeed accurate for the USA. I imagine next gen, physical drives are paid extras. And they won't be cheap.

 

[Darkness_Arises]

Publishers do work with 3rd party digital stores to offer their own discounts. Take for example, the current selling prices of Red Dead Redemption 2. 68% discount on Fanatical and Newegg but 0% on Steam and EGS.

Its 2025 soon. Try to keep up with the concept of digital gaming.

You would have to be borderline retarded to buy at that price on a 3rd party store. RDR2 is an old ass game that regularly goes on sale at a similar price on steam and PSN. Plus, you cannot refund that 3rd party key on Steam. I have bought and refunded RDR2 twice on Steam.

 

[geary]

And this is why physical only sales charts only tell a part of the story.

The tiny part if you add PC sales.

 

[Three]

Reading a little, these figures only come from games where there is a physical version to compare to. There is room for error, however, due to the way retailers report their info. We're talking percentage points though, not the entire figure. So, by and large, these figures are indeed accurate for the USA. I imagine next gen, physical drives are paid extras. And they won't be cheap.

There is further room for error that goes beyond that with the way some publishers are trying to push digital too. Some games get late physical releases or they get limited runs only. As Matt says they would have their numbers skewed not by demand for physical but by availability. More and more some specific shitty publishers/devs do late or limited physical releases to reduce second hand sales.

 

[Cakeboxer]

The trend is not new. Disc lovers can cry all they wanr, if they are lucky there is one more gen with it. But i wouldn't be surprised if we get at least much more digital only games.
I neither would be surprised if the PS5's disc drive wouldn't work with PS6 and the PS6 disc drive is expensive and rare and Microsoft going already all digital next gen.

 

[BigLee74]

Suck it up, guys.

Physical games are going the way of the dodo! I for one dont care a jot. It just means I dont have cupboards full of stuff I no longer play, or have to sell and dispatch for peanuts.

Can’t even remember the last physical game I bought. Probably COD WW2!

 

[Panajev2001a]

And this is why physical only sales charts only tell a part of the story.

Thanks to GamePass so do digital sales ones .

 

[Panajev2001a]

Physical games are going the way of the dodo! I for one dont care a jot. It just means I dont have cupboards full of stuff I no longer play, or have to sell and dispatch for peanuts.

Oh you will care… you will be probably the first one to b and moan if we reach to the point where the only thing we have is digital rentals…