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ESA/NPD: 74% of US game market was digital in 2016 (including mobile, etc)
RoninChaos
Member
Is this leaning more towards the mobile side inflating the numbers?
A lot of it is that, but there's also astronomical digital growth on consoles, especially when rolling in extra content.
The Salt Life
Banned
Sounds about right, I haven't purchased a physical copy of a game in what? 5-6 years on consoles now. Plus now that Microsoft will allow returns, more reason to stick with it.
MiketheBSG
Member
To me, it made sense to stick to physical last gen. On PS3 and as a game collector, it wasn't very efficient to download all my games onto a 1 TB hard drive sinc phayical housed most of the data on disc with only small in-game downloads.
This gen, the entire disc plus more is downloaded to the hard drive, so there's no benefit from a space perspective to buy physical, which is why I buy exclusively digital now. PS4 FW 4.5 Update that allowed for external hard drives made it even better.
This gen, the entire disc plus more is downloaded to the hard drive, so there's no benefit from a space perspective to buy physical, which is why I buy exclusively digital now. PS4 FW 4.5 Update that allowed for external hard drives made it even better.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
what do you consider "astronomical growth"?
If you aren't interested in this survey, why are you posting in this thread? The continual shit posting of people who come in and ignore the actual topic, to complain that it's not the topic they wanted to see, is going to stop now, one way or the other.
comshoplesce
Member
I don't get it really. RETAIL is 90% always cheaper + resell value + rent to friends.
when you factor in the page on purchasing and Billions spent, physical sales are declining around $1bn a year, and digital is more that picking up the slack thanks to things like PS+, Xbox live, DLC etc
2013: $20.2bn spent, $9.29bn physical
2014: $21.4bn spent, $8.35bn physical
2015: $23.2bn spent, $7.19bn physical
2016: $24.5bn spent, $6.37bn physical
2013: $20.2bn spent, $9.29bn physical
2014: $21.4bn spent, $8.35bn physical
2015: $23.2bn spent, $7.19bn physical
2016: $24.5bn spent, $6.37bn physical
gundamkyoukai
Member
Because this is counting the PC , mobile market and DLC they don't have a Retail side really .
Still physical sales are declining by the end of this gen it should be 50\50 on consoles .
And consoles are the last big retail market for games.
Kagoshima_Luke
Gold Member
Need to see numbers minus mobile and potentially PC.
capitalCORN
Member
Not with digital sales, and you have to factor in the inconvenience of travel.
Honestly this is such a minor consideration for the vast majority of digital-only gamers. None of the millions of Candy Crush et al. players care about "resell value" or "renting to friends". Legal Legends scoffs at brick and mortars.
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
Considering that the biggest platform, mobile, is digital-only and PC is digital-only as well, this isn't terribly surprising.
That top factor is a big reason I think we'll still see a lot of third parties passing on the Nintendo Switch. It'll more or less be the Wii U and Wii all over again in regards to software support.
But I'm sure most of you knew that already.
That top factor is a big reason I think we'll still see a lot of third parties passing on the Nintendo Switch. It'll more or less be the Wii U and Wii all over again in regards to software support.
But I'm sure most of you knew that already.
We went from 2% digital base game sales last generation to 30%+ this generation.
For Honor's US debut was even over 50% digital.
That's before we even get to season passes and microtransactions.
gundamkyoukai
Member
Only consoles are real!
Well, I mean, at this point you don't need a glass ball to foresee that digital wins out in the end.
Convenience > all. At least to most people.
Personally, as someone who likes his physical collection this is kinda depressing but maybe physical will stay in some form. Either way, this is something the market dictates and no amount of moaning will change it.
Convenience > all. At least to most people.
Personally, as someone who likes his physical collection this is kinda depressing but maybe physical will stay in some form. Either way, this is something the market dictates and no amount of moaning will change it.
PackAPunchedMick
Member
As opposed to physical mobile media?
The numbers aren't really a telling sign of console growth as far as I can see.
The numbers aren't really a telling sign of console growth as far as I can see.
What we can draw from this is that physical spend (which will mostly cover console game purchases) is declining heavily each year over the past few years, by close to $1bn each year.
I've been all-digital since 2013, so this is no surprise to me. And since I live on a small Caribbean island, PSN / Nintendo network prices are actually much cheaper for me than importing, and it means I can get it on launch day.
As a society we've just become so accustomed to the utter convenience of digital apps, it's no surprise that eventually we'd transition that way on consoles. I know that the idea of getting up and swapping a disc is humorously archaic to me, and I'm in my mid 30s. I can't imagine how kids feel about it.
Anyway, I'd love to see these stats for consoles and handhelds only.
The people who deny that graphics sell games or hardware make me laugh. The entire idea of the PS4 Pro, for example, isn't that it has exclusive games, just that the games look better. And people bought it. As for Horizon, sure robot dinosaurs is a decent pitch, but the reason it took off like it did was largely down to the utterly stunning visuals, which Sony used to sell their hardware at conference after conference in a virtuous marketing cycle for both the game and Playstation. But take the exact same game, make it have the visual quality of Fallout 4, and as a new IP it would have bombed most likely.
As a society we've just become so accustomed to the utter convenience of digital apps, it's no surprise that eventually we'd transition that way on consoles. I know that the idea of getting up and swapping a disc is humorously archaic to me, and I'm in my mid 30s. I can't imagine how kids feel about it.
Anyway, I'd love to see these stats for consoles and handhelds only.
The people who deny that graphics sell games or hardware make me laugh. The entire idea of the PS4 Pro, for example, isn't that it has exclusive games, just that the games look better. And people bought it. As for Horizon, sure robot dinosaurs is a decent pitch, but the reason it took off like it did was largely down to the utterly stunning visuals, which Sony used to sell their hardware at conference after conference in a virtuous marketing cycle for both the game and Playstation. But take the exact same game, make it have the visual quality of Fallout 4, and as a new IP it would have bombed most likely.
it depends, games sharing with a friend on NA store is way cheaper than anything physical in my country, it's the only reason I go digital, I couldn't bought so many games without it.
wesleyshark
Banned
Yep. I've been 100% digital for games on Xbox One for almost 2 yrs. It's been great.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
Those numbers are pretty useless for discussion
unless we can get them broken down.
I mean, what does that really mean if we can't see it split down to games only, console only, etc. PC, mobile, DLC, and subscriptions skew the numbers that makes it harder to see the real split between physical and digital games.
unless we can get them broken down.
I mean, what does that really mean if we can't see it split down to games only, console only, etc. PC, mobile, DLC, and subscriptions skew the numbers that makes it harder to see the real split between physical and digital games.
Phrozenflame500
Member
Are you just multiplying the % physical by total sales?
That's pretty interesting that the absolute amount of physical sales are declining and not just relative sales. Digital is really making waves I suppose.
capitalCORN
Member
Sorry, I meant my response as an agreement to you, and an argument to the other quoted poster.
Apologies if I did it wrong but page 15 shows the "video game content spend" which specifically excludes hardware and accessories, so i'm assuming this covers all digital and physical gaming content such as dlc, subscriptions etc, then working out the spend based on the physical percentage shown on page 14.
well if you include mobile its obviously going to be true, but also PC plays a big part as well
considering physical game sales are pretty much only supported by the big 3, it makes sense. consoles by default are where physical game sales are strongest
considering physical game sales are pretty much only supported by the big 3, it makes sense. consoles by default are where physical game sales are strongest
Digital Pricing on consoles takes the royal piss, one of the reasons I buy every game I can on PC.
I have a feeling MS will start to change this going forward on Xbox.
SocksAndShoes
Banned
I'm having the exact opposite feeling. As someone who wants to either collect his physical games or re-sell them, games are heading towards a future I really don't want or need.
ethomaz
Banned
That is interesting... the physical revenue is decreasing every year about $1b even when the overall revenue increased $1-2b per year.
I really wanted to see how the split went in platforms non-100% digital.
Maybe the poster was expecting a platform breakdown on the survey? I really don't see how that post is shitposting. Mobile is obviously a part of the industry, and digital attach rate has been on the rise, butIt would be interesting to see how much exactly on consoles without having taking Mobile into account since it may inflate the numbers.
capitalCORN
Member
But I bet you're willing to ignore PC hardware gross.
Obliterator
Member
Yep its a paradigm shift for the industry. And this figure will only continue to rise.
Mobile is obviously a major factor here, but so is digital spend on consoles. And not just full priced $60 product either. Things like Loot Boxes, Season Passes, DLC, microtransactions, etc. have totally changed the way the industry recoups costs and grows revenue and we will only continue to see a stronger and larger emphasis on service based titles, as well as traditionally single player only experiences adding multiplayer / extensive online connected support. Of course we've been seeing this shift for years but its only going to increase.
All you have to do is look at say Activisions financial results and see the insane amount of digital revenue that is coming in and see where we are headed. And frankly people should be ok with that, as I'm not sure how many people don't realize this sort of shift is required to pay for the huge budgets many AAA titles require in the modern market.
Mobile is obviously a major factor here, but so is digital spend on consoles. And not just full priced $60 product either. Things like Loot Boxes, Season Passes, DLC, microtransactions, etc. have totally changed the way the industry recoups costs and grows revenue and we will only continue to see a stronger and larger emphasis on service based titles, as well as traditionally single player only experiences adding multiplayer / extensive online connected support. Of course we've been seeing this shift for years but its only going to increase.
All you have to do is look at say Activisions financial results and see the insane amount of digital revenue that is coming in and see where we are headed. And frankly people should be ok with that, as I'm not sure how many people don't realize this sort of shift is required to pay for the huge budgets many AAA titles require in the modern market.
I have no idea what you mean by this, I just looked at the Physical vs digital gaming content numbers, and the gaming content spend. i'm not (purposefully) ignoring anything :/
Obliterator
Member
Yep 100%. Very very good point.
Because full priced game sales isn't the tell all of how a game performs anymore. Games don't live and die by how many units they sell at retail at $60 anymore. What is more important is how much they make over a longer course of time and how high user engagement and digital purchases are.
A game can sell considerably less units this generation than a game last gen, and yet still be far more profitable if it has a very strong connected community buying add ons for it. Obviously this isn't the case for every game such as those still focused on single player, but how many units a game sells at retail by and large isn't the story of how its actually performing.
In the case of subscriptions why they are included, because that is very important in terms of how the console manufacturers are doing. Xbox Live / PS+ generate ENORMOUS revenue for Sony / MS so its pretty important when figuring the overall health of the industry
capitalCORN
Member
Because PC hardware is not part of that market, but a hard driver in digital. Gaming side is rather myopic, and the most vocal are hellbent on that console single player AAA dream. When people ask to see the platform breakdown, they want assurance that the physical side of console gaming is healthy enough for their opinion.
Valve already did the research and released it a long time ago. Gross profit is not driven by single unit price, but volume.
The figures i'm looking at are purely physical and digital video gaming software, dlc, subs and mobile apps, nothing to do with hardware (be it console or PC). I'm not making a comment on anything relating to what drives what, just what the figures show regarding digital vs physical gaming spending.