There’s something about owning a physical game and actually having it in your hands that’s pretty cool. That said, the market has changed quite a bit since more and more developers starting making their games available digitally, and now it appears that could create a big change in how these titles are distributed in the future.
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This report from The Daily Star indicates that “the end of the physical video game disc is in sight”, as physical sales seem to be taking a downward turn, while digital game sales continue to soar.
According to the report, physical game sales have taken a decline 20 percent year over year, based on numbers provided from Kantar Worldpanel’s latest quarterly entertainment report.
“Gaming titles only made up two of the top ten physical entertainment titles” over “the past three months,” per the report. That said, “digital entertainment sales continued to climb with 13 percent of the UK now using streaming services, up three percent from last year.”
Though DailyStar’s take is a bit harsh, saying that the physical sales market is “failing,” there’s an indication that gamers are starting to enjoy the convenience of simply having game titles digitally, instead of trying to find room for a growing game collection. (Not everyone’s that way, though – ask anybody that invests pretty often in Limited Run Games releases like Night Trap and LawBreakers: Collector’s Edition.)
As a result, Microsoft and Sony could be looking into extensive storage options for its Xbox One X and PlayStation 5 consoles, in the hopes of boosting digital game sales. This is even in the face of Amazon still doing well in the physical game front, with a 20.6 percent share of the overall sales market.
Not everyone is doing well, though. UK retailer GAME saw a market share decrease of 2.5 percent year-over-year, with a market share decrease of 6.4 percent overall and a lack of big new titles – though this holiday season will change that.
For now, the market will likely stay the way it is, as a number of releases like Call of Duty: WWII and Assassin’s Creed: Origins will still have the digital/physical availability. But, yeah, don’t be surprised if the market sways a little bit towards all-digital over the next few years…
