Nielsen: 66% of console gamers prefer physical over digital, PC only 29%
- Thread starter MauroNL
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I really super don't care, if it means I'm able to access a copy of a game I paid for and is no longer accessible.
I have moved to almost 100% digital. That's crazy for me!! However pre-load is king! Also I tend to trade my games in for the new hotness and don't complete them. Digital forces me to keep playing my games to completion.
I know that's a horrible reason and I should have more self control but eh. works for me.
I know that's a horrible reason and I should have more self control but eh. works for me.
Of course not.
Anyone who thought gaming (on consoles) would be all digital by next gen was fooling themselves. We still have CDs ffs
I moslty go physical when I can.
1. Cheaper. Good sales, GCU discounts were great (RIP), Prime discounts on preorder, can buy used or trade with friends/randoms online.
2. Can sell them off (sell, not trade in and get ripped off) and recoup some costs when I'm done. I very rarely replay things, don't collect and hate clutter.
3. Since I can sell them off, I'm less likely to force myself to play some $60 new release I end up not liking since I can get most of the money back vs. a digital purchase being a sunk cost.
1. Cheaper. Good sales, GCU discounts were great (RIP), Prime discounts on preorder, can buy used or trade with friends/randoms online.
2. Can sell them off (sell, not trade in and get ripped off) and recoup some costs when I'm done. I very rarely replay things, don't collect and hate clutter.
3. Since I can sell them off, I'm less likely to force myself to play some $60 new release I end up not liking since I can get most of the money back vs. a digital purchase being a sunk cost.
I prefer physical until there is someway that games can download much faster. Some games take 24+ hours to download on ps4 even when my internet speed is capable of streaming 1080p videos and movies seamlessly.
Worst is the hassle of space management with digital as well as if you buy multiple games on the same day.
There is still more upside to physical than digital. Slowly they will force you to buy digital. A lot of indie games can only be bought digitally. PC is mainly digital now. Streaming and services like Game Pass will become more popular. All of this will eventually erode the demand for physical because many also see value in convenience. It won't be next gen but likely the one after that where we might see digital overtake physical on consoles.
I prefer physical copies on console but my PC doesn't even have an optical drive. The convenience of Steam and various sites that sell Steam keys like Green Man make the thought of buying physical copies on PC seem archaic.
Good, physical still have a resell value, digital does not! I doubt this will disappear anytime soon.
There is room for both, people that want a collection that is proofed from server shutdowns etc makes total sense. However for me these days its just not how I consume the medium. Call me crazy but I am 100% Gaas person these days.
I do it with Netflix, Spotify and I would love to do it with video games.
I do it with Netflix, Spotify and I would love to do it with video games.
I'm the opposite. I'm on PS4 and I've been trying to go full digital because I don't want stacks of game cases anywhere in my house.
I'd only buy physical if I'm unsure I'll love the game so I can trade it in.
I'd only buy physical if I'm unsure I'll love the game so I can trade it in.
I'm more than sure that the number who prefers physical skyrockets when you start including folks outside of the US.
Not only countries where internet speeds are much slower, but countries whose cultures prioritize physical storefronts over online shopping, and where folks rarely use credit cards.
A lot of people dont want to buy things online, and prefer nicely made brick and mortar storefronts.
Not only countries where internet speeds are much slower, but countries whose cultures prioritize physical storefronts over online shopping, and where folks rarely use credit cards.
A lot of people dont want to buy things online, and prefer nicely made brick and mortar storefronts.
Why do you leave out the part of my quote that makes it clear that I have seen and read this?
I prefer physical. That way I can sell it later. I rarely ever replay a game, especially big games.
I don't think it is accurate to count boxes with game codes as physical game sales. That would be the same as me writing a key for game x on a piece of paper and saying that I'm selling a physical copy of the game. Physical or Digital should be used in relation to where the actual game data comes in/from.
That number has grown exponentially... but in the financial world that is a made up number that doesn't prove anything because that isnt what people are doing with their money. The people saying that physical won't go away anytime soon sound like the people from back in the day that said VHS won't go away.
Change is coming and technology moves at an exponential rate. I wouldn't be surprised to see that number double in the next 3 years.
But I like that people are slow at accepting new things. It allows me time to research and move money around to maximize profits. Its It's very interesting seeing people trying to hold on to relics of the past and then watch the snowball effect happen. I don't know a single person who buys physical albums or movies outside of diehards. Games are next in line. Physical media won't be the only thing going away, but that's outside of the scope of this topic.
If you think corporations are not going to maximize profits by eliminating physical media and physical distribution of it, then you're lying to yourself.
Corporations want to make money. They don't care about your collection of physical media aside from taking advantage of collectors with overpriced physical editions. If anything, physical media will be a niche that certain companies will fill to meet the demands of those nostalgic minded people. It's already happening now. And what's even funnier is that these niche companies that make physical games will pay publishers for the right to make these special edition products while still giving the publishers a cut of the sales. They won't even have to fool with the manufacturing and logistics.
More and more games are doing digital only releases outside of the whole collector edition charade. And it starts from the bottom up. First it was indies and now you have more and more publishers outside of the independent circle implementing the same practices on some of their lower budget titles.
I'm not saying this is going to disappear tomorrow, but by the end of this next decade it will be a collector only thing to want something physical. It'll start with brick and mortar chains closing shop and go from there.
That number doesn't translate into what people are actually doing with their money. If people took the time to actually read numbers derived from money they would know that. Statista/NPD has reports readily available online right now showing physical sales are on life support. 21% vs 79%. Most people will look at these charts and complain that it includes DLC, subscriptions, mobile, etc on top of the full releases and say that the numbers are skewed. These same people will say the same thing when it's at 15, 10 and 5 percent.
You have been hearing people saying this for years because that is what's happening. Stuff doesn't disappear overnight. People with with foresight start planning years in advance to capitalize on changing business models.
Change is coming and technology moves at an exponential rate. I wouldn't be surprised to see that number double in the next 3 years.
But I like that people are slow at accepting new things. It allows me time to research and move money around to maximize profits. Its It's very interesting seeing people trying to hold on to relics of the past and then watch the snowball effect happen. I don't know a single person who buys physical albums or movies outside of diehards. Games are next in line. Physical media won't be the only thing going away, but that's outside of the scope of this topic.
If you think corporations are not going to maximize profits by eliminating physical media and physical distribution of it, then you're lying to yourself.
Corporations want to make money. They don't care about your collection of physical media aside from taking advantage of collectors with overpriced physical editions. If anything, physical media will be a niche that certain companies will fill to meet the demands of those nostalgic minded people. It's already happening now. And what's even funnier is that these niche companies that make physical games will pay publishers for the right to make these special edition products while still giving the publishers a cut of the sales. They won't even have to fool with the manufacturing and logistics.
More and more games are doing digital only releases outside of the whole collector edition charade. And it starts from the bottom up. First it was indies and now you have more and more publishers outside of the independent circle implementing the same practices on some of their lower budget titles.
I'm not saying this is going to disappear tomorrow, but by the end of this next decade it will be a collector only thing to want something physical. It'll start with brick and mortar chains closing shop and go from there.
That number doesn't translate into what people are actually doing with their money. If people took the time to actually read numbers derived from money they would know that. Statista/NPD has reports readily available online right now showing physical sales are on life support. 21% vs 79%. Most people will look at these charts and complain that it includes DLC, subscriptions, mobile, etc on top of the full releases and say that the numbers are skewed. These same people will say the same thing when it's at 15, 10 and 5 percent.
You have been hearing people saying this for years because that is what's happening. Stuff doesn't disappear overnight. People with with foresight start planning years in advance to capitalize on changing business models.
Bad comparision. DVDs were a better substitute and made VHS redundant.
That's a dangerous path. Fifteen years ago I spent a lot of money for music CDs. Now I only use Spotify Free and YouTube.
The music industry has shrinked in the past decades.
You already see it on smartphones. Paid apps struggle because so many people rather play popular Free2Play games.
Well, those boxes still include discs with game data on them...it's just that there are also keys included which kind of makes that less interesting.
I think games sold at retail in a box are counted as retail sales, however.
I hope people just do their own research and not listen to a word I say other than to just fact check.
As for the music industry, these free apps see money generated from ad revenue which you are forced to listen to unless you pay for it or bypass it using other means. I don't see where the music industry is hurting. Especially now that smaller, less known artists are able to distribute their music without the need of a record label. You got youtubers who make a living now just covering songs or releasing good original music on the format and on Google Play, iMusic, along with other services out there.
As for the music industry, these free apps see money generated from ad revenue which you are forced to listen to unless you pay for it or bypass it using other means. I don't see where the music industry is hurting. Especially now that smaller, less known artists are able to distribute their music without the need of a record label. You got youtubers who make a living now just covering songs or releasing good original music on the format and on Google Play, iMusic, along with other services out there.
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I sometimes buy physical copies of PC games if I happen to find them cheaper than elsewhere.
It occasionally happens but not often.
It occasionally happens but not often.
Didn't one of the publishers (ubi I think?) say for there games it is like a 50/50 split between physical and digital.
I don't understand how that is a bad example of what's occurring now. It was a way for media to be distributed among people, which is what's happening with digital distribution. Discs are vastly inferior to SSDs and even HDDs in term of how fast data is transferred and how durable it is. Your also limited to what you can store on a disc.
And you don't have to switch disks/media
And you don't have worry about lost or damaged disks
And you don't have to store the physical games, which leads to...
You can have your full library of games available almost anywhere. Example I visit my parents who have an old PC, but can play indie stuff fine. So I can login to Steam on thier PC and play what ever I want.
Physical is good for trading in, if you're into that.
At this point I'm going wherever the best deal is.
Except with Switch. I started physical at first but realized it was a hassle. Now I'm paying a premium for digital, which is annoying. Still makes no sense at all to me that I can buy physical games significantly cheaper than digital, but I guess that will die with GCU anyway.
Except with Switch. I started physical at first but realized it was a hassle. Now I'm paying a premium for digital, which is annoying. Still makes no sense at all to me that I can buy physical games significantly cheaper than digital, but I guess that will die with GCU anyway.
Physical was a no brainer before GCU was killed but once it runs out for me later this year I'm not sure what I'm going to do. The only option I'll have for reduced prices is going back to gamestop and using trade ins to finance newer games. I don't know if I can spend $60 on everything, it just feels wrong after so many years of GCU. But for this gen and parts of last GCU made it so obvious to buy physical over digital, it was a crazy time.
I see, so they come with both. I was under the impression that they only contained the game key inside. Thanks for the clarification.
As long as us infrastructure and company practices remain terrible for digital anything specially games it will remain this way for a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG time.
I greatly prefer physical over digital. The only time I do digital is for games I'll be playing in short bursts each day randomly such as multiplayer for example. That way I don't have to constantly change out the game. Single player games or those I'll only play once, physical all the way.
Physical forever. Nothing against digital and I still buy stuff that way occasionally, usually games I skip at launch that have a steep discount later but I love looking at my collection of cases. It's soothing.
If you believe companies only ever do what consumers want, then sure. It just becomes a bit hard to remain that optimistic in a world of season passes, lootboxes, draconian DRM and literal vendor lock-ins.
Digital is better. On the switch i'm mostly digital. I don't like the idea of switching game carts to play different games, that's so early 2000. Once i jumped to PC and went digital, i dropped every idea of physical media for digital.
Digital is just too expensive. I'd love to go all digital, but pricing really needs to change. For example, I wanted to play all the Kingdom Hearts games so I bought the collection on PS4. Gamestop has it for $20, and it is still $50 on PSN.