You may not like it, but the digital future is coming. While physical still very much has its place – and publishers are doing pretty cool things with their retail products these days – the reality is that purchases on the PlayStation Store are on the rise, and it’s only a matter of time before digital transactions overtake brick and mortar ones.
In fact, EA expects that by the end of this year, a whopping 40 per cent of game sales will be digital. “The consumer is shifting faster than we know or we expected,” CFO Blake Jorgensen admitted during an earnings call overnight, where he revealed that 33 per cent of his organisation’s sales from the fiscal year that’s just finished came via full game downloads.
While the publisher did admit that its digital share is slightly lower than the industry as a whole due to the FIFA franchise performing strongly in nations where downloadable games are experiencing a slower uptake, the company still expects services like the PlayStation Store to make up 38 per cent of its sales during 2017. It’s happening, folks – but are you ready for the transition?
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 63
I can believe it. That digital share is only going to keep going up.
Not surprised, next stop streaming.
@kyleforrester87 Basically, yes.
they want to lower the price of their games than £55+ for a digital game from EA while physical ones are still in the £45-£50 range
i keep saying it IF they want us to move to digital then they have to make it cheaper than physical
@FullbringIchigo Well, in America the prices are already the same. It'll happen in the UK when the scales tip in digital's favour, and then you're going to see the digital share snowball.
Well on PS4 whats the difference between physical and digital?
Still needs to install. No load time differences. Just whether or not you have what is effectively DRM.
Itll happen for Sony, if only because consumers will get tired of the BS.
But hey, foresight from EA.
I don't know, we heard about it for years, Microsoft even put the console in danger believing that digital would rule over physical, so maybe in the future, but distant future yet.
Before I got a ps4 I would buy pretty mucj all my games from retail if I could. PC games via steam as PC went mostly digital years ago, ps3 was retail as much as possible, and vita digital via sales. But since getting a PS4 and psn sales , I've purchased more digital then retail.
It's got a lot of benefits, such as remote play all my games are accessible as no disc needed, I don't have a shelf of disc boxes as I am a uncluttered person so I like that... And I can buy a game, download and play same day.
However, I can't sell the game, I can't trade the game. So pros and cons.
But, with Sony games releasing same price as store prices and psn sales so frequently popping up, digital is now very tempting.
If Sony keep running sales as strong as they have on PSN lately, then im not surprised digital sales or on the rise. I buy the majority of my vita games through PSN sales. Tend to stick to physical releases for ps4 though.
Makers of shoddy plastic statuettes are reading this through tearful eyes.
@Frank90 Microsoft tried to force it when they didn't need to. Sony was smart enough to let the market go there naturally, and that's what's happening.
There'll still be discs for the PS5, it's just that digital share is going to keep rising.
Not for a few years yet, and not for the yearly games/trade in after 8 months etc.
I hope it'll be a long time before physical disappears. My internet is pretty bad and it takes forever just to download 10 GB and with games getting upwards to 60 GB and more, I don't want to think of having to download that for every game released.
Mostly go digital these days, very few physical games in my collection. Tempted to go fully digital. It's very cheap, just wait till the game is six or seven months old and grab it in a sale for a pittance. This is no problem as I have a huge backlog of games to get through. The only exception to this would be multiplayer games where one needs to level up to keep with the community.
@iv-tecman I will never go all digital with the prices the same. Well the prices aren't the same in the US since Best Buy gamers club and Amazon prime members get $12 off physical AAA games. The physical copies are free shipping with Best Buy and come sometimes a day or 2 earlier than preorders from a digital preorder game. Midnight release for digital isn't much of a incentive for me if I get a $60 plus tax game for $50 brand new physical copy and get it days earlier with free shipping and left at my front door
It's rare a AAA digital game is $5 off at launch let alone $12 off. I can trade in my game at half or much more than half the price I paid for it at Best Buy. If I sell it to private owner I can get more money but that can be a hassle with Craigslist since people want something for nothing on that site. Not to mention some games at Best Buy Ike battlefront 2 will give me $10 if I preorder once I pic up the game that goes to my next purchase. Their are too many advantages to physical to ever go digital. I have bought much more digital games BUT ONLY WHEN GAMES ARE DIRT CHEAP LIKE $5-12.
Looks like I'll have to finally buy that 2tb hard drive rather that sticking to the old complete and delete method.
@blah01 I have patience for some games but most of my highly anticipated games I want day one. I never want the industry to go all digital. It's bad enough now that games can be broken, games want to be always online, Bethesda don't want you to review their games prior to launch etc. games developers/ publishers aren't transparent enough for me to go all digital. I don't want to pay no more than $20 digital and those games are exceptions but most of the times my price range is $5-12 avg. including AAAand indie.
I still prefer retail really just due to price and the ability to sell if I want.
I'm not against digital but I hope the future doesn't end up streaming like music has. I don't like the idea of being tethered.
@iv-tecman
Also the problem is on day one AAA games, should be cheaper digitally than a physical copy. If you don't have Best Buy gamers club not amazon prime. You should have all digital games at $55 or less since publishers are saving so much money not shipping disc in cases plus the overhead in stores. I don't want Best Buy nor amazon to ever go away from selling games at a discount. If Sony had some type of trade in policy like Microsoft then I would consider more digital buys but not until then.
There are still a lot of people with bad internet. I have great internet speed but it's unreliable lately With spectrum which took over time warner.
The only thing about digital games I like are that the sales are very good, but the normal rrp is a rip off.
@Bread-Not-Toast My thoughts exactly. Going digital will reduce the competition that we currently have between brick and mortar/online retailing/digital. I don't think that be going fully digital the consumer will be the one benefiting.
@get2sammyb
Sony tried to force it with Go, so they did learn the hard way.
I don't want digital only. It is easier to delete and reinstall than to delete and redownload, with games 50GB or more.
Some more comments. It's crazy how people could ever want all digital when for example they see a game for $30 on sale at a Best Buy but the digital copy of the same game is still $60? Why would anyone buy a digital game they see never go on sale at the retail store? Meaning the retail is also selling a digital copy.
Psn store have great sales but it's rare those AAA games sales are better than a physical copy sale The only time digital sales are better than retail for AAA is more than a yr later. I aint trying to pay $30 -40 for a AAA game on psn sale that I may regret I bought. Now psn has always great sales for indie and AA titles that were already at $40 or less from release date. Those game go on REAL GREAT sales more often than AAA high profile games. Also with Best Buy gamers club the games sold at $40 will be $30 since from $60-40 games still get the 20% discount. Also Best Buy gives 10% off use games. The trade ins give a extra 10% off and 4 times a yr a extra 50% trade in with the 10% trade in. You could literally get more money for a game you bought when you trade it if you trade at the right time.
I always compare retail prices prior to buying a digital copy to see if the digital price is so low the retail would never go to that price. Since it wouldn't profit to sell most games at $5-12.
@Shellcore exactly. So people stop buying $60 AAA digital games on launch just to play at midnight or to lazy to put a disc into console.
Well, the psn sales has been good lately, also I don't like ps4 case so if there isn't steelcase for the game I want, I'll buy the game digitally. I like steelcase version better though since I can install the game quicky compared to downloading it from psn.
@BLP_Software You can sell the game disc after you done with it. For short single player game like battlefield 1, I usually sold it after I finish it. Also ps4 install time is spontaneous and I'm sure there's load time differences between disc and harddisk (see ps3 games).
@sinalefa That's true, but the PSPgo was an alternative option really. Not like it was the only PSP on the market.
@wiiware so you will lose money to buy a game digitally cause you don't like a case? I mean this is the most silly thing I've heard. I would Assume you compared prices prior to buying it digitally. Gamers really have silly reasons to waste money. Since I am sure the digital cost the same as the physical without the means to trade in. Just read my post on how you can save far more on physical games that are AAA OR AA at $60-40 standard game. I have never wasted money on steel books to look at art books and over priced bonus content like statutes etc. but to each their own. I extremely, rarely ever buy season passes unless I got the standards game really cheap and preferably got the season pass on sale. Which has happen once or twice.
All of the complaints above - lack of hard drive space, slow internet connections, etc. will all be address in conjunction with the continued prevalence of digital content and streaming.
You won't be forced to download your games despite these problems, you'll actively WANT to download your games because these problems simply won't exist as the industry changes naturally. Ultimately there will be so little resistance that I doubt many people will even realise it's happening.
Funnily enough I would never even entertain the idea of buying a game digitally...until I got a Vita.
The sales were too good to ignore & it helped eat up the memory card cost. Without realising, this practice has entered my console space with the great sales & PSVR.
I hate it, but ~60% of my PS4 library must be digital now.
However, it's very rare that I'll pay full price for a digital title. I often wait for a sale or a ps+ discount.
Digital is taking over, but physical will always have a place. Nothing beats the feeling of holding a game you have an emotional attachment to.
@Ewflex Here in asia ps4 digital and physical games price usually the same. Also I like steelcase and artbook, don't like statue though.
I only buy digital games full price for the games I really like, nier automata & tearaway unfolded for example.
@Fight_Teza_Fight Yup, 100% agree.
Digital market may well be increasing, but you can't discount that the Physical is still the most popular choice. Any manufacturer would be foolish to remove that option.
Even if/when digital finally becomes the most popular choice, physical can't be ignored either. its always better to give the choice than to remove one option and annoy the millions that prefer a certain option. Even 30% is 3m sales for a game that sells 10m
for AAA games, i'll still buy retail discs. i even bought little nightmares on disc, even though it's a fairly small game (i just happened to see it in the store before i was home to get it on psn). the UK retail sector has pretty aggressive pricing, can't see it cheaper to buy digital at launch anytime soon.
also, i think publishers are being somewhat disengenious with digital numbers.. including season passes, DLC, microtransactions like FUT points, or battlepacks, etc. all of which are 100% digital sales and when they're combined with overall sales it gives a higher estimate for digital. if 60/40 split were common, then you'd have to add almost another 10m PS4 sales to GTA V on top of its already 15m retail sales. just don't believe it. if the split isn't at least 80/20 for console games which are available at retail i'd be amazed to be honest.
@kyleforrester87 What are your views regarding my main complaint: reduced competition = pricing monopoly. Sales are all well and good now we have the choice. However, when we don't have the option to buy from GAME or Amazon, what would be the reasoning for Sony to have such deep dealing? I can only see higher pricing being enforced and a captive audience who either pay up or bow out of gaming.
@get2sammyb Haven't games always been $60 on the US store, though? I don't think they came down when sales picked up.
I hate changing out the discs...and if they take up the same amount of hard drive space why would I want a physical copy? When it breaks I don't get to re-download whereas I can always re-download the digital version.
@Shellcore I think the reality is it'll be consumer driven - if a product does not represent value for money people will in large refuse to buy it and the industry will adjust accordingly. That's the reason micro-transactions have not become as prevalent as people might have feared a few years ago and why features such as season passes and DLC's have (after a learning curve) become something more reasonable and in some cases phased out completely. The industry has been testing the waters to see what the majority of the audience are comfortable with.
Look, it's easy to be afraid of this kind of change, I do get that. But what about competition between services like Netflix and Spotify that currently exist? They offer much, much greater value for money than going to Virgin or Blockbusters to buy an overpriced CD or movie rental. There's no reason why gaming won't follow this model.
Look at games pricing on PC. It's lower than console and the physical market is much smaller.
@Jake3103 That's what I mean. In the US, doesn't matter whether you buy from GameStop or PlayStation Store, it's still $60. In the UK, a game might be £40 on Amazon and £55 on PS Store.
@get2sammyb Yeah, it's true. If the prices were the same I'd happily buy digitally. Yakuza 0 was proof of this because it launched at £45 on the PS store, and was roughly the same on Amazon. When games are £50-55 each, though, it's just asking too much.
Do you think they'll ever bring prices down, or do you think that prices will just stay stupidly high on the UK store and we'll eventually succumb to paying those prices?
Phsyical won't disappear for ages but digital is big and can respond to the market quicker. EA can quickly push a sale out on its store items depending on how the market is looking, which means they can capitalise. I read somewhere (I forget where so don't quote me) that digital is having a big impact on selling games later in the games life cycle through promotions. People take a gamble on digital games during sales that they may have missed at launch.
At the moment, I tend to only buy indies or sale titles digitally because I like having the disc on my shelf (my wife, however, doesn't).
@Rudy_Manchego Yeah, that makes sense. If they missed a game at launch and then fancied playing it later on, there's a good chance they would buy a used physical copy of the game in which the publishers gets nothing. Whereas digitally it allows them to put up a special price, prompt people to remember certain games they missed, and the publisher still gets the money.
@Jake3103 I think once things start to tip in the favour of digital, retailers will no longer need to be appeased, so PlayStation Store pricing will probably lower a little bit.
That said, I guess it's worth remembering that the RRP on games is technically like £55, which you can end up paying in supermarkets and places like GAME.
I don't know is the honest answer. It's competition between retailers that's helped hit that magic £40 mark in the UK, and there's obviously no competition within the PlayStation Store itself.
I'm just thinking aloud now. Apologies!
@Jake3103 From my personal experience, I am also a lot more impulsive when purchasing digitally, especially in sales. Possibly because I may be sat on my couch late at night and then go wow this looks awesome, buy buy buy.
@kyleforrester87 Some good points there. The PC market is a good example to bring up as pricing does seem to be consistently lower than on consoles. I am a Netflix user, so that also is a good talking point and is interesting when it comes to looking at how that has changed my consumer habits if you like. For example, back in the day I would go to the store and pay a set price to rent a movie I had thought about watching. Today, I will stream whatever they have available. Whilst this has exposed me to new genres and movies I may never had seen, I certainly feel my viewing has been curated in a way. I am sure that doesn't hold true with online storefronts for digital games right now...but am certainly wary of change. Digital to me is like motorway service stations: convenient, but overpriced (from a console gamer point of view).
@Shellcore As a rule I buy my "big budget/AAA/call em what you will" type games physically over digital because it's still the best way to do it. To me its just clear that these days are numbered. But when the time comes, we won't give a damn, because it'll be so great
@JoeBlogs I think you're absolutely right. However, the publishers have more competition on their hands with earning the favour of PC gamers due to the larger amount of releases. Console gaming really does seem like "flavour of the month". We buy whatever big release there is and then rush to complete it before the next one drops (fear the backlog). Whilst I understand this doesn't apply to a lot of people, I feel the approach we take to gaming is more "want it now" rather than the "wait and see" approach with PC gamers.
Pc is digital only and I wager they count games owned through EA access as digitally sold...
@get2sammyb Retailers will need to be appeased.
1 reason: The sales of the systems themselves.
At which point do people rely entirely on a monopoly of Amazon and any competitors who can try?
And if the PSN has no competition...err....prices go up.
@BLP_Software Agree. We'll have to see what happens.
Could it be that corporate 'vampires' like EA and Activison are seeing more digital sales because they're FORCING season passes or DLCs onto the consumer especially if we want to play more of the same game? Whereas on the opposite side of the fence I'm guessing companies like CD Project with Witcher 3 GOTY and Rockstar (GTA 4), From Software might sell more physical copies? Maybe even Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft sell more physical games because they basically don't ram online only features down our throat. ... e.g. Dragon age inquisition, Destiny, diablo 3, FIFA leagues, Battlefront etc!!!!
@BLP_Software So why are prices so good on Steam?
@kyleforrester87 Because PC isn't a locked platform. Steam simply exists as one marketplace on a platform you cannot be a monopoly on. GOG, G2A, HumbleBundle, Windows, they all exist too on that platform.
But on something like a PS4, an Xbox One, a Switch, the manufacturer controls the ecosystem.
There is ONLY PSN. ONLY eShop. Microsoft allowed EA Access.
So why are prices so low on Steam? Simple. Its a market on an open platform. Competition is easy and prominent. That doesn't happen unless the hardware manufacturer wants it.
@kyleforrester87
I have always thought that since games are easily pirated on PC, putting low prices may help to fight it. But on consoles it is very different.
@wiiware I suppoae if you are getting the steel book and art book you are buying the physical copy. I am not 100% sure I understand your response. If you are explaining about only spending full digital games but mention having steelbooks etc. does this mean you get the game digitally(code) but get the steelbook and art book is the only thing physically?
If both digital and physical are the same price then you prove my point that it doesn't benefit buying digital especially if you want art book and steelbook.
Nothing to add extra as most is covered by other commenters.
Just my personal preference. Retail all the way! 95% of the big games is retail. I still regret buying FC: Primal digitally. Only free PS+ games and remasters are bought digitally here, only because there's no other way to play it on PS4. If a remaster is released on disc on launch day I opt for retail.
I rarely buy Physical anymore. I would say about 80% of my PS4 games are Digital.
There will always be a place for Physical but Digital is without a doubt going to become the more popular option.
I buy pretty much all games physically for a couple of reasons... 1) I just like having the case on my shelf 2) they're usually cheaper than digital games to start with 3) I can sell them if I get bored finnish them or just don't like them.4) You can install game straight off the disc so slightly quicker even though there are obviously updates but works out quicker if you have no Hardrive space left and you have to delete games. If I buy digital I'm stuck with a crappy game or broken game so I really just get digital if there's a good sale on but usually in alot of sales you can still get the older games preowned for like the same price... I know it will go all digital probably at some point but I think it will be bad to us as they can set the price!
I don't like the idea of PSN being the only place to buy game's, they have us by the short and curly's then. The sale's on the store are great but they are the only time the price's are great, otherwise year old game's still cost £55+ etc, that's when it's good to be able to get your game's physicaly elsewhere. I don't imagine a future anytime soon where it's digital only but it'll happen sooner or later.
@Ewflex I usually bought steelcase + artbook version of games that I really like, if there isn't steelcase version, I bought the digital version.
I buy games at the cheapest price. So far the AAA games are mostly physical with the indie games digital as not many had physical releases.
"shudders"
To be honest as long as they always make phyiscal options available and relatively convenient, I'm not bothered.
All sportgames should be digital they have no value on the secondhand market. If you see the amount of older FIFA games they have left they give them away a lot of the times.
But Limited Run games are soldout everytime though.
@JoeBlogs That would make sense. Also have to bear in mind that a lot of those individual games are smaller than your average AAA games. Plus console gamers have collections for each different console, say a PS2 set, a PS4 set and a 3DS set. PC gamers generally have all their games on one platform, with release dates spanning years.
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