Fallout 4 Sold Better Digitally Than Physically on Day One, Director Says

Fallout 4 sold better digitally than at retail on launch day, according to director Todd Howard. He shared the piece of information in a new interview with Game Informer.

"One of the things that is amazing: Fallout 4 sold more day one digitally than at retail. That's a big change," he said.

Howard did not share any specific numbers that speak to just how much bigger Fallout 4's digital launch was than its physical debut.

On November 13, a day after Fallout 4 launched last year, Bethesda announced that it shipped 12 million copies of the game to retailers for launch day alone. This amounted to sales "in excess of $750 million." At the time, Bethesda also said Fallout was generating "record sales" not only at brick and mortar stores, but also across Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and PC.

It is clear that digital sales for full games are growing across the industry, but Howard's revelation is something of a surprising one. Another big-name publisher, Electronic Arts, is seeing download numbers for full games continue to rise, but only to 20 percent by the publisher's latest count.

GameSpot also spoke with Howard recently. You can read some stories from our interview below.

• Fallout 4 Director on Why Bethesda Intentionally Held Back Info Before Launch
• After Big Success of Fallout Shelter, Bethesda Making More Mobile Games
• Fallout 4 Director Says Open World Games Becoming "Commonplace"