PS5 owners buy more physical than digital games!

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-19-playstation-5-owners-prefer-boxed-games-to-downloads

PlayStation fans across Europe and beyond heavily favour retail for their game purchases, with more than ten million boxed games sold in the console's first ten months on sale.

The figure comes from Global Sales Data's presentation at GI Live: London last month, where the firm's video games consultant Sam Naji took a deeper look at the console's cumulative sales from its launch in November 2020 to the end of August 2021.

GSD tracks full-game boxed sales from 23 countries and digital sales from 49 and covers all the major publishers.

The company found that retail has consistently outsold digital, with 51% more boxed games sold than downloads by the end of August.

November 2020 was the only month where full-game downloads have outperformed retail sales at 950,000 units compared to 840,000. After this, PS5's retail games have consistently outsold digital every month.

And the gap has widened over time. In December 2020, five retail games were sold for every four downloads. By the end of August, this had increased to three boxed games for ever two digital.

In total, 10.14 million boxed games were sold for PS5 between launch and end of August. December, January, June, July and August all saw more than one million games sold within the month.

Meanwhile, 7.51 million digital games were sold during the same period -- and no single month saw more than one million sales.

Wowza. I thought physical was dead? 🤭 😎

Of course. They are the Blockbuster Video of the gaming world. LOL

🤘

The covid pandemic does affect buying behavior so I personally thinks its more returning to norm.

That aside almost 18million PS5 games sold in europe alone that is massive numbers considering only 13m PS5 in gamers (and scalpers) hand all around the world and Ps4 versions forward compatible games.

That’s silly to me. It negates the ssd and things like quick resume on Xbox. Gamers buying physical are bottlenecking their consoles.

@goldenelementxl: lmao...you serious? 🤣

I think the trend is still evolving toward more digital. I don't think anybody thought the day console sales would have digital surpass physical was nigh.

With the cost of games on the ps5, its way better to buy physical and sell it when you're done. That way Sony is not destroying your butt too much.

I'm at a point where I prefer digital over physical, but am also at a point where I am appreciating my backlog and can wait for things to drop to sub $30.

That's me. I rarely buy digital. I only buy digital if it's a game me and my gf can gameshare and play online. Plus you get better discounts on physical games. My girl got me demons souls remake last Christmas for $20 and that was considered a new game at the time.

So over here games used to cost €60.

But all of a sudden next gen games cost €70 (while offering no additional value).

On the Playstation store games are €80.

So I hope this helps you understand why I never buy digital.

@SolidGame_basic: I try not to buy digital because you can't resell the game. You can buy a game for 70, play it, beat it and resell it for $60. Your effective cost is $10. If you purchase digital, then you're paying that premium, and there's no chance to get a single dollar back.

Buying physical games to sit and watch the game install and having to change disc is way to archaic for my liking. But too each their own.🤷🏽‍♂️

Hey, to each their own. I admit if I had the space it'd be nice to have a shelf of games to look at.

But at the end of the day I am a pragmatist; it is something I can lose, break, and requires an extra step to use, so there really is no point in buying physical outside of sentimental reasons.

No no no, PC is dead, remember?

Do games still actually play from the discs? I Just thought they were an install medium at this point, and after installation it's something they use as DRM (requiring the disc in to play).

@mrbojangles25: You are correct.

Yep, physical will always have the advantage of resellability. Plus, there are games that become rare and sell more than what you paid for. Also, there are people who like to claim digital is cheaper. I find physical to be cheaper. Look at the Black Friday deals. In general, physical versions are cheaper.You can get a physical copy of Deathloop for $25.

I do tend to buy physical more on consoles when i can. on the PC its no longer an option sadly but it also not as big a deal on the PC.

I dont really trust console eco systems in the long run. stores close down. bought content becomes unavailable. console hardware dies out and stuff doesn't transfer.

i mean it would suck if you bought a lot of games on the VC for the wii back in the day in the day for example. its gone. you can't download them anymore.

my vita died a few years ago. anything i bought digitally for it (which wasnt much)...gone. getting a new vita at that point wasn't really a runner as sony stopped making them. thankfully i could trade in my physical stuff.

on the PS5/Xsx (and pretty much all non nintendo consoles after the PS3) physical media has definitely lost one of its advantages: you cant just pop the disc in and play. you need to install the game first. it's a bit pants. I know its technically necessary of course as discs are just too slow but its not a great out of the box experience. its one of the things i do appreciate nintendo keeping on the switch. pop in cart: play game. no messing....er....most of the time (sadly some publishers do skimp on the cart and require a big download).

Sony fans are just a bunch of old farts.

The one benefit it that it can just keep the games you're not playing on a disc, but that's the only benefit imo.

Otherwise, given all the huge game updates you have to continually download, seems pointless to me have physical media these days.

The game disc needs to be in the console for the game to start. So if you switch from Far Cry 6 to BF 2042, you have to get up and swap discs. On Xbox, the swap through quick resume is basically instant. No loading screens, right into the action.

@goldenelementxl: I like Quick Resume, but I find that it's not perfect. Games will close unexpectedly and it doesn't seem to work well with legacy titles.

I mean yeah, in europe digital is more expensive than a physical copy, so why pay more to get less? If the prices were same I'd buy digital only on console too but that doesnt seem to be happening because PSN has no competition at all.

I do like that OP thinks this is because people like physical in EU and not because of ridiculous PSN prices lol

At the start of PS4/Xbox One, I went total digital on those consoles and don't even regret it either. Nintendo on the other hand, I'll always stick to physical games and didn't see myself going digital on Switch.

But then again, I just buy exclusives on consoles and everything else on PC. Physical games will always have a place in the 3rd-world when wireless doesn't have an impact on those regions so physical games is a must!

Real console gamers only buy physicals ,and fake/ posers games pay a monthly bill to rent games

I have a ps5 digital and happy with my choice I haven't brought a game physically since midway through the PS4 gen.

Still, glad to see physical isn't going away any time soon if this is an indication. Digital is too untrustworthy.

@nintendoboy16: How is it untrustworthy?

Somebody’s mad. Lol

This is so sad, reminds me of those weirdos who still buy cds and dvds.

Silly gooses.

Once it's off the eShop's, or if the eShop is gone. It's gone for GOOD! And it can be for any reason.

It's a blessing Nintendo still has the 3DS and Wii U eShops still up. For how long? God knows, but anticipate it soon (and buy what you can if you haven't).

Bandai Namco is forced to pull Jump Force (not a great game, but for anime history, it should still be preserved) due to licensing rights come next year. Hell, Mortal Kombat 9, despite being patched for XBOX BC, still hasn't returned to XBOX stores because of rights over Freddy Kreuger. The only way to play those games is if you already bought them digitally, or if you have a disc (which I do for both).

And don't get me started on Nintendo pulling Mario 3D All-Stars off digital stores for no good reason. The only benefit we have is them having printed so many physical copies (to the point where contraband jokes are made about that collection).

@nintendoboy16: Nothing you mentioned addresses the untrustworthy issue. Games being pulled from the digital store is no different from physical games no longer being sold in retail stores. My observation is that digital games has a much longer availability in digital stores versus brick and mortar. So, what untrustworthy issue are you referring to?

"Second hand sales" is a thing still.

Digital games have shown they can be pulled anytime and much more quickly than retail. That's the "untrustworthy" issue here. Once it's pulled down, it's gone unless some blessing urges it to return.

Second hand sales is second hand sales. It currently doesn't exist for digital purchases but that does not equate to being untrustworthy.

How often; if ever has a game been pulled from the digital store over retail store? Also, a game being pulled does not make it untrustworthy. You would have an argument if games you purchase digitally were no longer accessible to the buyer when it is pulled from the store but none of your scenarios are remotely close to that.

Companies are untrustworthy. All games are digital, even if distributed on physical media. In general I trust the data on my NAS infinitely more than data on a disc or a flash drive.

It's also worth considering that most games these days are incomplete as shipped on the disc, and you are still subject to the whims of a company that might decide to pull the servers.

I'm not really arguing against physical distribution tho, I'm arguing for digital backups if there is something you care about and don't want to lose. Never trust a company with something you care about.

@pyro1245: I don't. I find less so with digital rights.

@pyro1245: I am waiting for that inevitable court battle over the right to transfer digital licenses.

I paid about $49 physical for Returnal instead of $70 digital. That's all people need to know.

I buy about 80% of my games on physical media.

Early adopters are more likely to be enthusiasts and collectors so physical games makes sense. It may also very well be a result of $70 games but it's too early to know.

Fwiw, PlayStation already shares this info themselves and PS4/5 was at 65% digital in FY2020.

The gaming market is not the same as cinema or music. Several physical games get increased value over the years. A VHS of a1987 movie is pretty much worthless but a NES game is extremely valuable to a collector. Even if a game gets improved and re-released the original copy is still more valuable. For example, Okami has been re-released for current platforms both digital and physically and yet, the original PS2 version is more valuable.

I dont believe physical media in gaming will be gone anytime soon because of this. Many gamers are collectors and prefer to own a physical copy of said game. So stop comparing physical media in gaming to "Blockbuster vs Netflix" cause I dot think they're the same at all

Why your digital games collection isn't yours to own | TechRadar

"When you purchase a digital game, you’re not purchasing the game – you’re essentially long-term renting a license to play it."

There has been a few cases where games are completely gone from digital stores AND you cant re-download them EVEN if you have bought them before. Some extrmely rare cases, and even though people got a refund, it has happened

@vatususreturns: Disney VHS go for a lot of money.

Still, you're argument is the same I've heard time and time again - but the same inevitable conclusion happens: people abandon the physical for the digital.

@dabear: Yet you see a screw ton of Disney VHS at thrift stores.

@hardwenzen: That's a rediculous comment.

Borrowing games from your friends and lending them in return easily makes physical so much better.