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Digital downloads account for 92% of PC game sales
- Thread starter Asgaro
- Start date
ComputerMKII
Banned
In value or in volume?
joeygreco1985
Member
I haven't purchased a physical PC game in years, seems like such a waste of packaging. I ended up redeeming the CD Key in origin and downloading anyways, the discs never entered my PC.
Running datacenters and all that jazz prob aint better then creating physical media.
globally? ok if it was really 92% of PC games globally, then why almost all big PC games releases in Europe and Asia still come in discs? if it was this huge worldwide all publishers drop discs in Europe/Asia ages ago. there is just no why most of big publishers still push PC discs and bother with it (like they do) if it was for only 10% or less.
Rodney McKay
Member
Given how many super cheap, garbage games I have on my Steam library, it probably evens out with the amount of physical garbage that has been created, haha.
I wonder how much energy we're using for all those data centers.
But yeah, I love digital downloads. Now 100% digital on both PC and consoles, and I love it.
Are you serious?
50gb is just under the bandwith cap of most home in Canada, how great is that
Canis lupus
Member
On next gen consoles, it's around 10 percent, going by the financial reports of Ubisoft and co.
Last physical pc game I bought was Alien CM CE cuz it was cheap.
Last physical pc game I bought was Alien CM CE cuz it was cheap.
Consequence
Member
Sentenza
Member
Actually it is. Massively.
Maybe you can argue it won't be "100% clean", but on an entirely different scale anyway.
KnightHart
Member
Up here in Canada they're still somehow going strong. Like there's usually nothing at all, or a significant amount of physical PC games. You mention Blizzard, and a few weeks ago I did some grocery shopping at Walmart and I found like 4-5 copies of the Heart of the Swarm LE boxes there. 1 was in shit condition the rest looked in good condition
The one thing I don't miss are the gigantic boxes taking up space (I'm looking at you Battlefield 2).
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
GameStop barely has a PC section. All they do is stock major releases, what they don't sell, and Steam cards. Everywhere else you go you'll find the same thing. Plus a lot of the PC games are still priced fairly high. Something I could get at say Walmart for example, is about 30% less online. Best Buy has a larger collection and they like to stock collector's edition as well, but it's still nothing huge. There's also a ton of indie games on Steam and everywhere else (especially MMOs) that you can't even buy a box for unless you backed their Kickstarter. Indie games do not count for physical sales because there's more than one way to make the game available.
I know this guy who thought all the indie games on Steam were all the hottest upcoming games. I knew this guy hadn't been inside a game store in a long time or had visited a gaming website. There's a huge difference IMO.
I know this guy who thought all the indie games on Steam were all the hottest upcoming games. I knew this guy hadn't been inside a game store in a long time or had visited a gaming website. There's a huge difference IMO.
Arcanine55
Neo Member
I only buy physical PC games when I decided to pick them up the day of release, or when they are Blizzard games.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
I haven't bought a physical PC game since Rage came out. Everything after that has been digital. It beats driving somewhere, waiting for the package to show up, or waiting in line at midnight. I can preload days or hours before hand and I'll have it that night.
It sounds like I hate supporting my local gaming store or shopping center. I think it's more convenient. I do miss some things about going to the store, but I also like that I don't have to mess with all the employees.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
1st thing that came to my mind as well. I was like that percentage that buy things like all of Blizzard's collector editions.
I still wonder how they can actually know these numbers though when nobody fucking gives out real numbers. Seems like an educated guess at best.
RPG_Fanatic
Member
Because the PC has a damn high percentage of digital only games.
If you'd count only digital downloads from games that have a retail copy, it'd probably not look like this. But of course the PC is going to be much faster "digital only" than the consoles.
Just as a note on point #2, some software (especially PC software), even if you have a physical CD, has an EULA that says your game is just licensed to you. So in theory you don't "own" that, though of course it could not be enforced without some sort of DRM as well. Some physical installs may also need activation servers.
Now of course one could argue that one is morally justified in pirating/cracking such a game after purchasing a copy and having it stop working, but pirate/crack stuff is going to be downloaded over the internet anyway so that's still a bit digital.
I got Diablo 3 for $10 at toys r us when they were clearing it out because 92% of people buy DD.
Except that the way PC gaming works these days is that every physical copy produced is eventually headed to the landfill and you basically are just buying a code that you redeem through a DD service. Physical PC games are truly terrible for the environment at this point.
Except that the way PC gaming works these days is that every physical copy produced is eventually headed to the landfill and you basically are just buying a code that you redeem through a DD service. Physical PC games are truly terrible for the environment at this point.
Cozmogramma
Member
KillerMan91
Member
Prices for digital versions of new games still suck though.
For example:
Watch_Dogs steam price: 59.99
Boxed copy from cheapest internet store here in Finland: 30
I will continue to buy boxed games...
For example:
Watch_Dogs steam price: 59.99
Boxed copy from cheapest internet store here in Finland: 30
I will continue to buy boxed games...
Except that physical copies of PC games these days should be simple, easy and take up very little room. Just set up one of those card kiosks with all the credit cards with game pictures on them.
Just as a note on point #2, some software (especially PC software), even if you have a physical CD, has an EULA that says your game is just licensed to you. So in theory you don't "own" that, though of course it could not be enforced without some sort of DRM as well. Some physical installs may also need activation servers.
Now of course one could argue that one is morally justified in pirating/cracking such a game after purchasing a copy and having it stop working, but pirate/crack stuff is going to be downloaded over the internet anyway so that's still a bit digital.
Yep, I know that. But those publishers can't revoke my "license" since I have a physical version of the game. So in theory, you are right but it doesn't matter in this case. I never bought and never will buy games that need that.
You could easily store the crack or whatever on your HDD. Still, I wouldn't bother with that. There are so many old games that I still need to play. Those will probably last for the rest of my life.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
I think worldwide it's very different. The merit of cd keys isn't brought up a lot. I know some outlets out there have titles much cheaper, but you don't have a clue rather or not they are legit Steam or Origin sellers. I had my CC stolen once and I knew it was from a lousy CD Key store I thought was legit. I even talked to ZeniMax about it. I told them where I bought the other game and what had happened. My CC was used to buy two full copies of The Elder Scrolls Online for $59.99. Someone took my number from somewhere and did it. I only trust Steam, Origin, and GMG for sales. I've trusted them for years. I don't trust the CD Key sites that don't necessarily say they are a legit key seller.
bonesmccoy
Banned
The last 2 PC games I bought retail were Mass Effect 2 and Napoleon: Total War.
Both just used Steam to install.
Both just used Steam to install.
Rodney McKay
Member
I'd be more shocked if the physical copy of the shelf wasn't just a thin client install linked to the main steam download, which effectively makes it a DD purchase anyhow...