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2023 Physical software spending still holding strong in UK. Only -2% decline from 2022

yazenov

Member

With the complete set of UK retail and GSD tracked digital data in for 2023, we can reflect on some good news that the year turned out quite positive:


  • Combined physical and dsgital unit sales for 2023 was 3% higher compared to 2022.
  • Average price increases in new games increased by 14% between 2021 to 2023.
  • Unit sales for digital full games continues to grow as a share of the total UK market, but the transition to digital has slowed down.

When it came to video game spending in the UK during 2023, unfavourable economic headwinds did not dampen spending when it came to full video games.

This is from the article above. Physical only declined -2% from last year, while Digital increased by +8% which indicated that the overall market showed growth in spending / Game prices increase.

This chart is a good apple-to-apples comparison of physical and digital software for full games only. In contrast to some "industry experts" who include everything under the sun such as mobile, subscriptions, VR, DLC, and Microtractasions to skew the narrative in whatever directing they want.

62% Digital to 38% physical. I don't think any sane person would say that nearly 40% of the market is irrelevant.



XDWKhls.jpg
 

demigod

Member



This is from the article above. Physical only declined -2% from last year, while Digital increased by +8% which indicated that the overall market showed growth in spending / Game prices increase.

This chart is a good apple-to-apples comparison of physical and digital software for full games only. In contrast to some "industry experts" who include everything under the sun such as mobile, subscriptions, VR, DLC, and Microtractasions to skew the narrative in whatever directing they want.

62% Digital to 38% physical. I don't think any sane person would say that nearly 40% of the market is irrelevant.



XDWKhls.jpg
The digital is higher because it counts PC. Still not apples to apples.
 
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Go_Ly_Dow

Member
FF7 Rebirth - £53.49 with free delivery.

vs

£69.99


Basically every new release is like this, which is one of the reasons I buy physical games. Along with the ability to lend the game, sell the game and have the game in your collection to oggle at.
 

Woopah

Member
It's a really interesting article overall, recommended reading the full thing. Even though it lacks digital numbers, you can clearly see the effect TOTK had on industry growth.

what percentage of those physical sales are Switch is what i want to know.
A large proportion, but not an overwhelming one. Spiderman 2, Call of Duty and Jedi Survivor all made the physical top 10 without Switch versions.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
People who think physical will go away on PS and Nintendo systems are sorely mistaken.

If there's a place for physical media like Vinyl then there surely will be a place for physical games as well for many more years to come.
The insomniac leak literally just shows that ps first party games sell 60-70% at launch on disc. That’s majority of sales.
People want to own the game somewhat.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
FF7 Rebirth - £53.49 with free delivery.

vs

£69.99


Basically every new release is like this, which is one of the reasons I buy physical games. Along with the ability to lend the game, sell the game and have the game in your collection to oggle at.
Yep. I’ve not paid full 70-80(in Poland) for a new ps5 game since demons souls on release. Small Retailers always fight over better disc deals and pre order bonuses and so on. Usually it ends up being 60 with delivery instead of 70. And You get to own the game, play 1.0 if I want, get all the crap in the box like map or postcards at times. For cheaper.
Hard to pass on that
 

yazenov

Member
The insomniac leak literally just shows that ps first party games sell 60-70% at launch on disc. That’s majority of sales.
People want to own the game somewhat.

Software Charts UK

Top 30 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, PC and Xbox platforms)

For Sony:

  • Spider-Man 2 : 46.4% Digital
  • God of War Ragnarok: 24.3% Digital
  • The Last of US Part 2: 52% Digital


*Digital sales not included
RankPrior YearTitlePublisherSalesTotal% Digital (2023)
1NEWEA Sports FC 24Electronic Arts2,395,996-67,2%
2NEWHogwarts LegacyWarner Bros. Games1,921,143-55,9%
3NEWCall of Duty: Madern Warfare III (2023)Activision Blizzard1,238,683-68,7%
41FIFA 23Electronic Arts747,9023,278,41261,7%
5NEWMarvel's Spider-Man 2Sony654,731-46,4%
65Grand Theft Auto V^Take-Two Interactive615,67711,200,000+71,0%
7NEWStar Wars: Jed: SurvivorElectronic Arts553,323-60,5%
8NEWThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*Nintendo498,159-0,0%
9NEWDiablo IVActivision Blizzard442,874-84,7%
10NEWSuper Mario Bros. Wonder*Nintendo429,686-0,0%
1113Red Dead Redemption II^Take-Two Interactive411,7253,662,74483,3%
122Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)^^Activision Blizzard378,6382,053,96165,5%
139Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*Nintendo357,8893,077,4530,0%
14NEWAssassin's Creed: MirageUbisoft352,228-51,3%
15NEWResident Evil 4 (2023)Capcom321,117-54,9%
166God of War: RagnarokSony261,303931,92024,3%
174Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaWarner Bros. Games254,6231,071,92236,8%
18NEWF1 23Electronic Arts248,997-75,1%
19-NBA 2K 23Take-Two Interactive246,154???87,1%
2018Minecraft [Nintendo Switch]**Microsoft245,9131,200,000+20,5%
21-Grand Theft Auto OnlineTake-Two Interactive237,307???100,0%
22-Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeUbisoft229,728???100,0%
23NEWWWE 2K23Take-Two Interactive220,000-64,0%
2411Nintendo Switch Sports*Nintendo209,696570,1050,0%
25NEWDead Island 2Plaion200,000-67,0%
26-The Last of Us: Part IISony180,000???52,0%
2719Animal Crossing: New Horizons*Nintendo148,9961,627,2140,0%
283Elden RingBandai Namco Entertainment145,0001,010,000-
29-Dead Space (2023)Electronic Arts143,000--
30-Mortal Kombat 1Warner Bros. Games143,000--
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Physical had a minor decline, but digital had a notable increase and digital is still more than 3rd of the total sales.

I mean, that doesn't exactly scream confidence in physical for long either. 🤷‍♂️

But as long as gamefly continues to exist, I'm happy.
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Physical had a minor decline, but digital had a notable increase and digital is still more than 3rd of the total sales.

I mean, that doesn't exactly scream confidence in digital for long either. 🤷‍♂️

But as long as gamefly continues to exist, I'm happy.

Huh? What?!
 

willothedog

Member
What is the revenue ratio for physical:digital for the corporations? I remember seeing a breakdown of costs incurred for physical releases but cannot find it.
 
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Three

Member
It's so obvious that there is a push towards digital that isn't coming from the consumer but those interested in pushing it for their own gain and eliminating second hand sales. From the article regarding some big releases:

Other factors include whether one is investigating games that released on the digital format only (such as Alan Wake 2) or whether games got an early digital release compared to their physical disc counterpart (such as EA Sports FC 24 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3). All these factors can contribute to favour the digital format away from physical disc sales.

They're trying to drive digital by making it unnecessarily prohibitive to choose physical with the biggest games. This did not happen in the past and there is no reason for it to happen now other than greed. Next some will remove the ability entirely on their console and analysts like Mat will pretend that consumers chose this and the companies were just "following trends" when they're actually trying to create the trends for that adorably digital future.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
38% when including PC game sales. If you take PC game sales away and only do consoles, it would have been in the mid to upper 40s percent. How is that a bad thing?

Not saying bad, just that the trend towards increasing digital is pretty clear whether we like it or not.
 

Woopah

Member
Software Charts UK

Top 30 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, PC and Xbox platforms)

For Sony:

  • Spider-Man 2 : 46.4% Digital
  • God of War Ragnarok: 24.3% Digital
  • The Last of US Part 2: 52% Digital


*Digital sales not included
RankPrior YearTitlePublisherSalesTotal% Digital (2023)
1NEWEA Sports FC 24Electronic Arts2,395,996-67,2%
2NEWHogwarts LegacyWarner Bros. Games1,921,143-55,9%
3NEWCall of Duty: Madern Warfare III (2023)Activision Blizzard1,238,683-68,7%
41FIFA 23Electronic Arts747,9023,278,41261,7%
5NEWMarvel's Spider-Man 2Sony654,731-46,4%
65Grand Theft Auto V^Take-Two Interactive615,67711,200,000+71,0%
7NEWStar Wars: Jed: SurvivorElectronic Arts553,323-60,5%
8NEWThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*Nintendo498,159-0,0%
9NEWDiablo IVActivision Blizzard442,874-84,7%
10NEWSuper Mario Bros. Wonder*Nintendo429,686-0,0%
1113Red Dead Redemption II^Take-Two Interactive411,7253,662,74483,3%
122Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)^^Activision Blizzard378,6382,053,96165,5%
139Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*Nintendo357,8893,077,4530,0%
14NEWAssassin's Creed: MirageUbisoft352,228-51,3%
15NEWResident Evil 4 (2023)Capcom321,117-54,9%
166God of War: RagnarokSony261,303931,92024,3%
174Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaWarner Bros. Games254,6231,071,92236,8%
18NEWF1 23Electronic Arts248,997-75,1%
19-NBA 2K 23Take-Two Interactive246,154???87,1%
2018Minecraft [Nintendo Switch]**Microsoft245,9131,200,000+20,5%
21-Grand Theft Auto OnlineTake-Two Interactive237,307???100,0%
22-Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeUbisoft229,728???100,0%
23NEWWWE 2K23Take-Two Interactive220,000-64,0%
2411Nintendo Switch Sports*Nintendo209,696570,1050,0%
25NEWDead Island 2Plaion200,000-67,0%
26-The Last of Us: Part IISony180,000???52,0%
2719Animal Crossing: New Horizons*Nintendo148,9961,627,2140,0%
283Elden RingBandai Namco Entertainment145,0001,010,000-
29-Dead Space (2023)Electronic Arts143,000--
30-Mortal Kombat 1Warner Bros. Games143,000--
Due to the Insomniac leak we now the global split between digital and physical shipments for similar games:

Spider-Man Miles Morales: 34% Digital
God of War: 34% Digital
The Last of US Part 2: 39% Digital

This and other data suggests that UK has higher digital console splits than elsewhere.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
People who think physical will go away on PS and Nintendo systems are sorely mistaken.

If there's a place for physical media like Vinyl then there surely will be a place for physical games as well for many more years to come.

Yep. Just sad little console/platform warriors trying desperately to push that the failures of their favorite plastic box is the "right move" for the industry.
 

ZehDon

Member
Moving to favour digital is favourable to the industry, not the customers. Whether we want it or not, it's going that way. It's just another way to increase profit margins, which continues the industry's illusion of growth. Xbox has been actively attempting kill physical media for a while, but Sony stepping out with the PS5 DE this gen is a good indication that they're interested in pushing up digital adoption rates. I imagine physical drives being optional "extras" will be one way for Sony/Xbox to "lower" the sticker price for their next gen consoles, while also pushing as many people as possible to digital. Nintendo, on the other hand, seems to despise the Information Super Highway, so there's a good chance they'll keep making physical until the heat death of the universe.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Due to the Insomniac leak we now the global split between digital and physical shipments for similar games:

Spider-Man Miles Morales: 34% Digital
God of War: 34% Digital
The Last of US Part 2: 39% Digital

This and other data suggests that UK has higher digital console splits than elsewhere.

You have to wonder why Target are giving up selling physical media in stores and online when you see numbers like this.
 
FF7 Rebirth - £53.49 with free delivery.

vs

£69.99


Basically every new release is like this, which is one of the reasons I buy physical games. Along with the ability to lend the game, sell the game and have the game in your collection to oggle at.
This.

Not to mention physical is the only way to play a game and financially hurt a publisher for whatever reason.

If I dislike a game I feel obliged to put it out into the used market.

If I like a game I try to keep hold of it as long as possible.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
This.

Not to mention physical is the only way to play a game and financially hurt a publisher for whatever reason.

If I dislike a game I feel obliged to put it out into the used market.

If I like a game I try to keep hold of it as long as possible.
Precisely. There are many reasons why we shouldn't let the industry take away the choice of buying physical games.

Seeing comments GAF wanting a digital only industry is baffling and short sighted.
 
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