92% of games digital for PC in 2013

Seems like an all digital is already here for PC

Console games may still occupy a large amount of retail space with physical copies, but PC games are another story altogether, according to research firm DFC Intelligence. The organization told website PC Retail that 92 percent of all PC games sold across the world in 2013 were distributed digitally, and that the number is expected to grow.

DFC also told PCR earlier this year that PC gaming had exceeded consoles in terms of revenue, but with a new generation of consoles - both of which are offering more games digitally on the same day as their physical counterparts - both of these claims could change by the time we look back on 2014. But then, we also know how well our wallets fare during a Steam sale ('not well' is the answer).

Really, it's anybody's guess as to where the market will shift. In the meantime, analysts gonna analyze.

Yeah, no kidding. Digital is good stuff on PC. It's also my primary way of playing games on my Vita, PS3, and PS4. In fact I haven't even played a physical disc on my PS4 yet.

Physical copies use to be great until they gave you a flimsy case, a 2 page manual and the game disc..

@Animal-Mother: good op dude. Yeah those steam sales effing kill me. Got max Payne series and darksiders series for 15 bucks recently.

My PC area would be a mess if it weren't for digital. I really don't want that much shit lying around.Steam does a pretty good job of handling all my games and (I can't believe I'm saying this) so does Origin.

I think what makes the PC DD work better than the consoles is because you really don't have to deal with a hardware refresh every few years screwing up your library with hardware compatibility bullshit..

@sSubZerOo: Yeah I remember the good old days where it was all physical for me.

Digital is also super super cheap nowadays if you know how to get it cheap, even on consoles.

On PC, I'm all digital

On consoles, I don't think I've ever gone digital except to download old PS1 and SNES classics.

Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, and RDR were the last 3 games I remember having a good few things in their boxes (in the case of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls I'm talking about the limited PAL version and the collector's edition).

A very small feature, and yet it's probably the only advantage physical has ever had over digital.

Origin has gotten better with time. It's like steam in the beginning it can only get better.

You raise a great point. The quality of physical copies has gone downhill.

One of the reason why I prefer console, I don't like the idea of just renting my games if I'm going to do that I might as well pirate.

Would those be the days when RPG's came with fold out maps (sometimes cloth) and some games came with keyboard overlays or manuals so hefty they were spiral bound?

6/10 like Infamous: First Light.

Don't you rent games already with PS+?

What???? what does Infamous: First Light and PSN+ have to do with not owning the games I buy?

*faceplam*

See..its posts like these that really make console fanboys look really ignorant.

What happens to the free games you get under PSN+ Once you stop paying for it?

That's what happens when digital games bring way more benefits to the consumer than retail.

Of course that's only on the PC side of the industry where that really holds true.

I swore I already commented on this and got in a debate a bit, but my post is gone. Maybe it was another thread?

EDIT: Yeah, this is last week's news after reading the old link in the OP (August 18th). This is the last week's thread I posted in LINK:

Downloadable titles make up 92% of PC games

There's much better compatibility and retention of rights on PC, plus the digital marketplace on PC is more flexible, I imagine that's why PC has stronger digital support. Plus, with console physical copies, you're playing to keep, trade, lend to friends, things you can't really do on PC (yet, they'll probably change that in time to come). I think much of the time it's the used game market, and sharing with friends that supports tangible copies. Plus consoles haven't really had the needed HDD space or the necessary library management features to support a large library and having the discs is just easier to deal with.

Also, I think that the retail of PC technology goes a long way. For instance retailers like Best Buy and whoever will still sell PCs given their universal application, people need them for work and for games and lots else. But consoles are primarily for gaming, and gaming retailers sell games as well as the consoles they're on. If strong digital sales began to encroach on their market for games, I think you'd see retailer backlash like was seen when the PSP Go was released. If they can't sell the games, why sell the consoles they're on.

Problem with console digital retail is they sell digital copies for just as much as the physical copies go for, which to me is such a turn-off toward supporting digital. And once prices come down at retail, the digital retail for consoles ends up being more than retail. This should be the exact opposite. For starters digital should be cheaper given that they don't have to produce physical copies, distribute them around the world, shipping costs, factor in a retailer cut, and hold money on the side for MSRP adjustments and publisher promoted discounts. Plus, with the problem of used games eating into sales, every digital copy is a copy that's not going to end up on the used game market. IMO digital titles on these console services need to be a good deal cheaper. $40 on new games IMO is the mark where you'd start seeing big changes to console digital retail, and considering the used game market this is a good price point to I think sway gamers to go digital considering the $20 difference is a good incentive considering gamers trade their games somewhere around that (or much less!), except maybe the gamers who sell their games in the first month for $30. And, I support this because this will continue to bring money to publishers, the used game market doesn't.

Well since I live in Canada where we have annoying data caps even in big cities and don't download anything and have yet to ever subscribe to PSN+ currently nothing.