With games sales edging closer to an all-digital future, the PlayStation Store sales charts are arguably more important than they’ve ever been. It’s good to see first-party titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales performing incredibly well on the PlayStation 5, then; the Insomniac Games spin-off was the second best-selling next-gen digital release of 2020 in both Europe and North America, failing only to outpace Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was the third best-selling next-gen digital download of the year in both regions, while NBA 2K21 and FIFA 21 ticked the sports box on both sides of the pond, with Demon’s Souls finishing fifth. Obviously, the PlayStation 4 list is a lot more competitive, with FIFA 21 and FIFA 20 occupying the top two spots in Europe, while Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Grand Theft Auto V rule the roost in North America.
Sports games and Call of Duty really dominate both top tens, although The Last of Us: Part II appears sixth and eighth in North America and Europe respectively, while Ghost of Tsushima also charted in the US and Canada. On PSVR, it’s no surprise to see Beat Saber continue to have a stranglehold on the market, but Marvel’s Iron Man VR managed to squeeze in at tenth place North America, while Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series charted in both regions.
You can see the full list of results through here. With digital download sales increasing every single year, this is probably a better picture of the current state of the games industry than the various country specific charts we post on this site.
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 20
The next gen of consoles will definitely be all-digital.
Bye bye Game and CEX.
It’s a tad lazy to not just give us the full list here, but thanks for the link anyway.
@hypnotoad I wonder what the digital download numbers overall look like in NA vs Europe. I get the sense we have more options in regards to physical purchases and I wonder if that has any impact on the move to digital.
both ps5 and ps4 have 3 current exclusives out of the top 10 in usa charts.
Bit of a shame sports and cod always dominate.
@zupertramp No idea but I can't see physical media surviving in 5 - 6 years time and from a personal (old school) pov, I dread the day.
@hypnotoad I think Nintendo will keep physical games, PS6 ends up all digital and there ends up not being a next gen for Xbox.
On the plus side, if we do go all-digital, then CEX and its stink will be gone.
Sports & CoD (also GTA of course) will always dominate these lists as those are the games the average gamer chooses to play.
1) Because that's what they enjoy and 2) because that's what they are comfortable with and 3) they offer a quick 30-60 mins of guaranteed gaming fun.
As long as other games sell well enough to generate sequels and/or keep developers afloat so they can make more then that's all that matters. Same goes for indie games.
It would be nice to see more variety in these types of lists but so be it.
@Grumblevolcano. Not gonna happen ps6 is not going all digital.wtf haha.no way.word up son
Beat Saber is amazing fun and deserves that stranglehold in my opinion 😊
@Jimmer-jammer Spot on.
A wonderful game along with Pistol Whip.
Whio keeps buying Minecraft? Number 4 in USA/Canada and 6 in Europe? Really?
@Grumblevolcano good estimates and I agree for the most part, although I think we will still have Xbox around but it might only be through streaming or somewhat linked with the PC experience.
Regardless of that, my reckoning is that Xbox will be the first to go all digital. They started the trend of no disc drive with one edition of their consoles at the end of last gen and continued this gen. that coupled with the fact they are pushing everyone into Game Pass like there is no (physical) tomorrow and want streaming shows they are going that way.
Sony will depend heavily on this generation how consumer trends go. Personally, I will try buy as much physical as possible, but I’m sometimes swayed by sales to go digital. Having said that, it will be interesting to see what the sales of the all digital console are compared to the full fat PS5.
Nintendo I don’t see going digital for a while. This gen if people go digital only on the Switch, I feel sorry for their wallets. I can sell all my first party Nintendo games today for almost as much as I bought them for. It actually hurts financially a lot more for Nintendo gamers to go full digital and therefore they could be the last bastion for all the physical fanboys like myself. But I hope Sony is alongside them.
Hmm, than did AC Valhalla sell poorly? I'm sure I read somewhere that Mikes Morales sold much less than the previous Spider-Man game, like around 70% less.
EDIT:
I was right, it sold far less, 70% less. So if Spider-Man: MM sold slightly more than 1/2 a million, how well did Valhalla sell? Obviously Valhalla also has Xbox and PC sales, and this may only be digital, but that still seems like an issue.
@Kienda By no next gen Xbox, I think Game Pass Ultimate will be rebranded as just "Xbox" by then and be on virtually every device. So instead of a next gen Xbox console you buy pretty much any device, download the "Xbox" app, subscribe to "Xbox" and then can access the full "Xbox" library.
Glad to see spidey mm, demon's souls, sackboy, and immortal fenyx rising in the chart
@Grumblevolcano you know, that would actually be amazing!
I’d love to have Game Pass on my PS5 and enjoy the best of both worlds.
I will still support Nintendo also.
It is BIG difference if we bought digital OR we are FORCED to buy digital, because physical was simply not released. Keep this in mind, dear Pushsquare!!!
Seeing the 3 Sony published games on the PS5 Store charts is just heart warming. Demon's Souls at number 5 is just such good messaging from the fans to Sony.
"jo Sony get ya ass on Bloodborne 2, will ya?!"
@Jimmer-jammer
Beat saber is a seriously awesome game, though I feel playing it on PC is a must as the custom song mod really broadens its horizons
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