It really comes as no surprise to those familiar with the console market that phyiscal sales at retail are still very much higher than digital sales. Unlike the PC market where the majority of sales are now digital, the UK has seen physical maintain its high market share with console games but there are some signs that digital is getting larger and larger.
According to this MCV article, GfK Chart-Track data when combined with SuperData digital estimates show that around 80% of a games sales come from the physical market. The number of digital sales is set to continue growing over the next few years though as digital download becomes more popular and viable for consumers.
It's worth noting that GfK and SuperData have very different methodologies for arriving at their final sales figures and therefore the combined sales graphs below are by no means a 100% accurate representation of each game but is able to show us a general trend with console games when it comes to physical Vs digital.
Chart-Track’s March chart, for instance, included sales up to March 26th, which means Bloodborne was only on sale for two days when the physical numbers were counted. This may explain why Bloodborne’s digital sales (which include all sales up until March 31st from SuperData) are proportionally so high.
But it still provides an insight into the scale of the move between digital and physical. Big triple-A titles such as Battlefield Hardline are primarily bought in boxes, while the split is more even for digital-first titles, such as Minecraft.
The charts below show the physical/retail split between the UK's top 8 console games for March and April. MCV plan to include digital sales in their charts moving forward and SuperData are working hard to have their digital sales charts ready for public release in Q4 2015. SuperData compile their charts based on data they collect from payment service providers and participating developers.
According to this MCV article, GfK Chart-Track data when combined with SuperData digital estimates show that around 80% of a games sales come from the physical market. The number of digital sales is set to continue growing over the next few years though as digital download becomes more popular and viable for consumers.
It's worth noting that GfK and SuperData have very different methodologies for arriving at their final sales figures and therefore the combined sales graphs below are by no means a 100% accurate representation of each game but is able to show us a general trend with console games when it comes to physical Vs digital.
Chart-Track’s March chart, for instance, included sales up to March 26th, which means Bloodborne was only on sale for two days when the physical numbers were counted. This may explain why Bloodborne’s digital sales (which include all sales up until March 31st from SuperData) are proportionally so high.
But it still provides an insight into the scale of the move between digital and physical. Big triple-A titles such as Battlefield Hardline are primarily bought in boxes, while the split is more even for digital-first titles, such as Minecraft.
The charts below show the physical/retail split between the UK's top 8 console games for March and April. MCV plan to include digital sales in their charts moving forward and SuperData are working hard to have their digital sales charts ready for public release in Q4 2015. SuperData compile their charts based on data they collect from payment service providers and participating developers.
