UPDATE Digital Game Sales Finally Top Retail Sales

Earnest Cavalli

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Jun 19, 2008
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UPDATE Digital Game Sales Finally Top Retail Sales



It's been a long time coming, but according to the NPD Group, retail videogame sales have finally fallen behind the intangible sale of digital games.

Update: It should be noted that the NPD Group counts game rentals and the sale of used games alongside what it refers to as "other monetization methods." These methods, taken as a whole, have topped retail sales. Digital sales are a rapidly growing force in the industry, but that alone does not yet trump retail sales. We apologize for any confusion.

During the second fiscal quarter of this year, sales of games (and accessories and hardware and all the associated gimmickry the industry puts out) hit $4.2 billion, a slight increase over the same time period last year. This is business as usual.

However, the NPD Group announcement that included that de rigueur bit of news also announced that for the first time in the history of the gaming biz, cash generated by digital game sales overtook the sales of physical, retail games. The former pulled down $1.74 billion, while the latter earned a still-quite-respectable $1.44 billion.

Presumably, you've all got a grasp on what "retail game sales" means. That includes games you pick up from a store, complete with clamshell packaging, nifty artwork and if you're lucky, some kind of gaudy trinket that will sit on your shelf for months collecting dust.

Digital sales, on the other hand, includes all the games purchased over Xbox Live, the iTunes App Store and via Facebook. For the most part, these titles are far less expensive than their retail counterparts, so that $1.77 billion figure consists of far, far more copies sold than retail's $1.44 billion.

As All Things D points out however, the NPD Group has only been tracking the sales of digital games for a relatively short time, so it is possible that this victory for digital sales is a momentary quirk. That said, I doubt you'll find many in the industry who can claim genuine surprise that this day is finally upon us. It's been predicted for years.

The real question we are now faced with is what exactly this means for the future of retail sales. Assuming the numbers indicate a genuine trend, it seems increasingly nonsensical for developers to devote time and energy to the relatively less lucrative enterprise of stocking GameStop's shelves with the latest triple-A games.

I'm not suggesting that this might signal a decline in the size and scope of games as a whole in favor of smaller, Angry Birds-esque distractions -- there will always be a thriving market for epics like the brilliant Dark Souls -- but perhaps the days of bedroom floors littered with endless game cases is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

When your kids inevitably ask you what a DVD was, you'll be able to turn up your nose in disgust, and mutter something about having to walk uphill in the snow (both ways!) to get your Gears of War fix.

Source: All Things D [http://allthingsd.com/20111005/digital-videogame-sales-overtake-retail-sales-in-q2/?mod=tweet]
(Image [http://www.flickr.com/photos/voxpelli/2954946319/])

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Nurb

Cynical bastard
Dec 9, 2008
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Get ready to be forced to register personal information for a dozen different digitial distribution clients on your PC because each publisher wants their own exclusive releases on their software. Already started with EA's Origin

Of course, it did take the combined purchases from LIVE and apple as well, so it's not truely "ahead" of retail.
 

Ragsnstitches

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Dec 2, 2009
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Funny story, the last computer I got had to be picked up when a blizzard hit... I was taking public transport and then suddenly, no more buses :(
 

Beryl77

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Yeah, I'm not even sure which game the last one was which I bought retail, I think it may have been the Orange Box back in 2007. Maybe I've bought something else later on retail but I don't remember right now.

There's also a nice interview with Gabe Newell about how the prices affect the sales and revenues of games and what possibilities digital distribution platforms have in relation to that.
http://www.next-gen.biz/features/valve-are-games-too-expensive
 

Kingme18

Destroyer of Worlds
Mar 26, 2011
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As long as they keep selling retail games, I'm fine. I like to have something I can touch, instead of something that can be taken from me any second.
 

fractured_sanity

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May 25, 2011
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Kingme18 said:
As long as they keep selling retail games, I'm fine. I like to have something I can touch, instead of something that can be taken from me any second.
With half the games coming out now they can do that if you have a physical copy or not.
 

esperandote

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Feb 25, 2009
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Good luck buying your AAA titles digitaly and your rental services. Digital media will ruin gaming archaeology.

Edit: If doom was sold digitaly back then we woudln't have a picture to post here.

Edit 2: I posted that as if retail was going to end but in reality I don't think that's gonna happen, at least not any time soon.
 

esperandote

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TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
Good luck buying your AAA titles digitaly and your rental services. Digital media will ruin gaming archaeology.
Steam, Origins and lots and lots of digital distributors already sale AAA titles. And it works perfectly fine. Most of my triple A titles are bought from Steam on sales.

And how will it ruin gaming archaelogy?
You won't be able to collect playable Games, Boxes, Manuals.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Alright?

Nobody will abandon retail. While it makes slightly less money than digital, it's still a HUGE chunk of money that publishers/developers need.

To abandon retail when it's still such a large percentage of the market would be stupid.
 

Aris Khandr

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Oct 6, 2010
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esperandote said:
TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
Good luck buying your AAA titles digitaly and your rental services. Digital media will ruin gaming archaeology.
Steam, Origins and lots and lots of digital distributors already sale AAA titles. And it works perfectly fine. Most of my triple A titles are bought from Steam on sales.

And how will it ruin gaming archaelogy?
You won't be able to collect playable Games, Boxes, Manuals.
That sounds more like gaming hoarderism. I like the switch to digital. No more waiting until UPS finally arrives to play my games on release day. If I want to play something, I buy it and play it. I'm fairly nocturnal, so it's rather annoying to decide I want to play something at 11 PM, and have to wait until I'm awake and out of the house while stores are open to actually do so.
 

esperandote

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Feb 25, 2009
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TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
Good luck buying your AAA titles digitaly and your rental services. Digital media will ruin gaming archaeology.
Steam, Origins and lots and lots of digital distributors already sale AAA titles. And it works perfectly fine. Most of my triple A titles are bought from Steam on sales.

And how will it ruin gaming archaelogy?
You won't be able to collect playable Games, Boxes, Manuals.
Regarding my Steam library the first point is a lie. Since I have also limited space and I only started buying digital copies about 8 months ago I don't miss boxes or manuals (also, since I collect games and not boxes I don't see the point in the box).

I still buy retail copies but why should I buy everything physical if I can have it stored online and always there when I want it?
I'm not sure about how digital distribution works but..

Will you be able to play the games 15 years from now, different PC, different OS?
Will streaming services be available that long?

And I'm sure digital games won't increase their value over time like Cardtriges and Discs do.
 

GeorgW

ALL GLORY TO ME!
Aug 27, 2010
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Interesting. It's about time, however I'm sure there's gonna be some debate as to whether apps and facebook games are considered 'games'. Also, very important, is this only NA or the entire world?

This was inevitable, but I hope, and believe, that there will always be a place to find boxed releases. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but there's just something special about holding that brand new game in your hands, ripping it open and playing it (not to mention new game smell).
Earnest Cavalli said:
When your kids inevitably ask you what a DVD was, you'll be able to turn up your nose in disgust, and mutter something about having to walk uphill in the snow (both ways!) to get your Gears of War fix.
 

esperandote

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Feb 25, 2009
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bahumat42 said:
esperandote said:
TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
TheKasp said:
esperandote said:
Good luck buying your AAA titles digitaly and your rental services. Digital media will ruin gaming archaeology.
Steam, Origins and lots and lots of digital distributors already sale AAA titles. And it works perfectly fine. Most of my triple A titles are bought from Steam on sales.

And how will it ruin gaming archaelogy?
You won't be able to collect playable Games, Boxes, Manuals.
Regarding my Steam library the first point is a lie. Since I have also limited space and I only started buying digital copies about 8 months ago I don't miss boxes or manuals (also, since I collect games and not boxes I don't see the point in the box).

I still buy retail copies but why should I buy everything physical if I can have it stored online and always there when I want it?
I'm not sure about how digital distribution works but..

Will you be able to play the games 15 years from now, different PC, different OS?
Will streaming services be available that long?

And I'm sure digital games won't increase their value over time like Cardtriges and Discs do.
should be able to, i see steam sticking out, origin and onlive may not though.

As for selling games in the future? really thats what you think when you decide to keep a game, just incase its worth lot in the future? get into antiques mate.
I certainly don't wanna be buried with them... *ponders*, no I don't. They are (will be) antiques, besides I'm not passionate about furniture and stuff.