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[cireza]

Is this supposed to be a lot ?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

if FFXVI turns out to be a masterpiece is going to eclipse any RPG for the rest of the year.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

What's the source for it not being so? Switch games, most notably Scarlet and Violet, are below 50%.Scarlet and Violet was around 43% when you compare the numbers it did on famitsu and Nintendo official numbers.

That was so for Pokemon, similar for Splatoon 3, XC 3, etc.

So where is your source that PS5 ganes suddenly have most sales on digital? Because that ain't what famitsu is showing.

Dude...we already know Switch's physical sales are bigger than PS5. PS5 literally has a sku without physical games available and it has sold like 360k units.

This next image is already outdated but it paints a good picture of what's happening:

This has probably increased since them.

I don't see how digital sales are "lower than 50%". PS5 AND PS4 (yes...this isn't even just counting the PS5) already had quarters where it was about to hit 80% of digital sales vs 20% physical...so i don't know what your sources are but you should check them for sure. That 71% from Q1 in 2021 and 79% from 2022 says everything you need to know.

 

[Mung]

He made the claim that what I was saying was a conspiracy theory.He's the one who needs to backup his claims.

And the Switch is on the same market, is the market leader, and by logic shares the same customers and thus the same habits. I gave my proof and now I await yours. Or will you continue to hide behind that rethoric? Maybe because you have nothing to show for yourself?

I very much doubt that the physical and digital splits will be similar to switch and ps5. Ps5 skews towards a more mature audience who are much more likely to buy digitally.

But until Sony or someone else releases recent official splits, it is all just anecdotal and guesswork.

 

[Nautilus]

No you did not, can you back up the claim that PS5 digital software sales are below 50%?

Maybe, that is especially true for the Switch, but I am looking for actual numbers for PS5 digital splits.

I did, it's just that you don't like it so you choose to ignore.

And you can't even back up your own claims, so you keep hiding behind these petty attacks. It's pathetic.

 

[Mr Moose]

I did, it's just that you don't like it so you choose to ignore.

And you can't even back up your own claims, so you keep hiding behind these petty attacks. It's pathetic.

What claim did I make? I asked if you can back up the claim that PS5s digital sales are lower than 50%, you did not back up that claim. What petty attacks? Are you confusing me with someone else?

 

[Nautilus]

Dude...we already know Switch's physical sales are bigger than PS5. PS5 literally has a sku without physical games available and it has sold like 360k units.

This next image is already outdated but it paints a good picture of what's happening:

This has probably increased since them.

I don't see how digital sales are "lower than 50%". PS5 AND PS4 (yes...this isn't even just counting the PS5) already had quarters where it was about to hit 80% of digital sales vs 20% physical...so i don't know what your sources are but you should check them for sure. That 71% from Q1 in 2021 and 79% from 2022 says everything you need to know.

But isn't the Disk Version responsible for 85% of the hardware sales? The VAST majority? This data is in this thread.

And that image refers to the worldwide sales ratio.Not japan specific.And its already known that Japan still skews more for physical than digital. We have HARD data regarding Nintendo games that show that digital split is around the 40%, and considering how much Nintendo is dominating Japan, its fair to assume that Sony's consumer is also inside Nintendo's ecosystem, and his buying habit on the Switch is the same on Sony.

But sure, lets assume the split in Japan is as the image says, roughly 30/70 in favor for digital. Games on launch week barely break into the top ten(Or in another words, don't even break the 10k), if it even gets that close.So even if digital is responsible for 70% of the sales, its still a very low number, when compared to the hardware numbers. Which begs the question that everyone is asking: wtf is happening with the PS5 game sales?

 

[Nautilus]

I very much doubt that the physical and digital splits will be similar to switch and ps5. Ps5 skews towards a more mature audience who are much more likely to buy digitally.

But until Sony or someone else releases recent official splits, it is all just anecdotal and guesswork.

Why is a "mature audience" more likely to buy digitally? That makes no sense, I don't see the correlation.

The Switch IS the japanese market. Its like 90% of it. So I think we can agree that whoever games on PS5, probably games on Switch right? So if their buying habit on Switch is more physical-leaning, then it stands to reason that its also physical leaning on PS5.

 

[Nautilus]

What claim did I make? I asked if you can back up the claim that PS5s digital sales are lower than 50%, you did not back up that claim. What petty attacks? Are you confusing me with someone else?

That the PS5 did not have a ratio lower than 50% after I provided facts backing up my claims, and you kept insisting on showing proofs that didn't make you look bad.

And here we are, 4 replies later, and you keep repeating the same thing, embaressing Sony owners all over Gaf.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Damn, that tells you Japan was supply constrained and people do want it.

 

[Fafalada]

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 16,576 (361,727)
Xbox Series S – 14,277 (244,155)

See everyone - the two lower-cost SKUs are directly competing head-2-head.

 

[Mung]

Why is a "mature audience" more likely to buy digitally? That makes no sense, I don't see the correlation.

The Switch IS the japanese market. Its like 90% of it. So I think we can agree that whoever games on PS5, probably games on Switch right? So if their buying habit on Switch is more physical-leaning, then it stands to reason that its also physical leaning on PS5.

Switch is the Japanese market, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the PS5 is a representative cut of that market. The demographic make up could well be quite different causing confounders, and therefore the buying approach could be different too. Therefore data regarding the switch may not apply to other consoles.

 

[Mr Moose]

That the PS5 did not have a ratio lower than 50% after I provided facts backing up my claims, and you kept insisting on showing proofs that didn't make you look bad.

And here we are, 4 replies later, and you keep repeating the same thing, embaressing Sony owners all over Gaf.

You did not show anything like that, you talked about Switch. And where's my petty attacks? The only one doing that is you.

He made the claim that what I was saying was a conspiracy theory.He's the one who needs to backup his claims.

And the Switch is on the same market, is the market leader, and by logic shares the same customers and thus the same habits. I gave my proof and now I await yours. Or will you continue to hide behind that rethoric? Maybe because you have nothing to show for yourself?

Show me where you proved PS5 digital sales are below 50%. I'll wait.

I prefer physical to digital, btw, I would just like to see claims backed up.

 

[Physiognomonics]

I think only Sony could know if PS5 in Japan has a big software problem.

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide (well except for Ragnarok those last 3 months obviously). But the question is to know if it has an even bigger problem in Japan.

 

[Fafalada]

and considering how much Nintendo is dominating Japan, its fair to assume that Sony's consumer is also inside Nintendo's ecosystem, and his buying habit on the Switch is the same on Sony.

That's a big assumption to make - anecdotally I have completely different buying habits on Switch vs Living room Console vs PC.

Which begs the question that everyone is asking: wtf is happening with the PS5 game sales?

This same question was levied against PS3/PS4 when their respective hw spikes did not show proportional software rises.
If there's one thing that has been evident over last two decades in Jpn-sales threads - it's that Nintendo systems software simply charts far better than anything else in Japan. The last time that wasn't true was the PS2 era, and the occasional PSP Monster Hunter months.

Whether that's affected by respective digital trends is hard to tell - since we see no numbers around that in Japan anymore. Didn't MC for awhile publish digital charts? What happened to that?

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

I think only Sony could know if PS5 in Japan has a big software problem.

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide (well except for Ragnarok those last 3 months obviously). But the question is to know if it has an even bigger problem in Japan.

Wait, what?

 

[JaksGhost]

I've had my PS5 for more than a year now and I've ONLY bought digital games despite me having the regular version. Convenience over anything. The only games that are physical are PS4 games that had an upgrade.

I think only Sony could know if PS5 in Japan has a big software problem.

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide (well except for Ragnarok those last 3 months obviously). But the question is to know if it has an even bigger problem in Japan.

Have you seen the sales charts for different countries?!

 

[Nautilus]

Switch is the Japanese market, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the PS5 is a representative cut of that market. The demographic make up could well be quite different causing confounders, and therefore the buying approach could be different too. Therefore data regarding the switch may not apply to other consoles.

It may not, but its the most likely answer, if we both agree that Famitsu is telling the truth and basically no PS games appears on it.

Even if you assume a 80/20 split for digital, software sales are still bad. So, if I am wrong, or my "assumption" is not likely, what's your guess? Because if you don't offer reasonable alternatives for an explanation, you are contesting me just for the sake of it, just like MrMoose is doing.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think only Sony could know if PS5 in Japan has a big software problem.

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide (well except for Ragnarok those last 3 months obviously). But the question is to know if it has an even bigger problem in Japan.

Why are yall making up these lies?

 

[AncientOrigin]

Does media create track digital titals?
I can imagine why there are no titals in the charts is maybe everyone bought digital games from the store that would explain why the console sold so much but no physical games

 

[Fafalada]

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide

Why?
I mean - we don't have any split-numbers for PS5 specific software-sales, but if you take PS4 hw-shipments, and project software ratio based on how previous gens did at similar point in their life, PS5 ends up somewhere stupid-high, like tie ratio of 15+.

PS2 2 years in was around 6 (as was PS3 IIRC), PS4 did better but someone else can dig that out.

 

[Nautilus]

That's a big assumption to make - anecdotally I have completely different buying habits on Switch vs Living room Console vs PC.


This same question was levied against PS3/PS4 when their respective hw spikes did not show proportional software rises.
If there's one thing that has been evident over last two decades in Jpn-sales threads - it's that Nintendo systems software simply charts far better than anything else in Japan. The last time that wasn't true was the PS2 era, and the occasional PSP Monster Hunter months.

Whether that's affected by respective digital trends is hard to tell - since we see no numbers around that in Japan anymore. Didn't MC for awhile publish digital charts? What happened to that?

MC put them behind a paywall, and so we don't see them anymore.

Well, the PS3 nor the PS4 set the market on fire in Japan, right?

But its a fair assumption to make, right? Especially when the sample is like 90% of the market.That's the reasonable assumption to make given the data we have(Famitsu, software sales from companies, etc) because the alternative is what, believe with all our hearts that people started buying 100% digital from one day to another?

 

[Fafalada]

Well, the PS3 nor the PS4 set the market on fire in Japan, right?

No - and I don't think anyone expected PS5 to either - just because it's finally not supply constrained for a couple of weeks it doesn't mean it'll permanently sell well, but people love doing the extrapolation like this:

But its a fair assumption to make, right?

Eh - given the Switch domination for 4+ years, expecting PS software to chart more than once in a blue-moon on a userbase of 2.5M is like expecting DC to survive more than 2 years on the market. Digital may be exacerbating the issue - but even if it was 100% physical sales the current results are kind of - expected.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Why?
I mean - we don't have any split-numbers for PS5 specific software-sales, but if you take PS4 hw-shipments, and project software ratio based on how previous gens did at similar point in their life, PS5 ends up somewhere stupid-high, like tie ratio of 15+.

PS2 2 years in was around 6 (as was PS3 IIRC), PS4 did better but someone else can dig that out.

Previous quarter (before Ragnarok) first-party YoY sales were abysmally down. Anyways the fact that they don't split PS4 / PS5 sales is also a sign. In the past they routinely did similar tricks along the years with either hardware or software.

 

[Kerotan]

The KING of Japan slaying all before it. All glory and praise be to PS5.

Another week just proving my point that the sales never actually represented demand. And this after a price increase. Crazy to think people actually thought it needed a price decrease.

Bright few years ahead of it.

 

[Nautilus]

No - and I don't think anyone expected PS5 to either - just because it's finally not supply constrained for a couple of weeks it doesn't mean it'll permanently sell well, but people love doing the extrapolation like this:

Eh - given the Switch domination for 4+ years, expecting PS software to chart more than once in a blue-moon on a userbase of 2.5M is like expecting DC to survive more than 2 years on the market. Digital may be exacerbating the issue - but even if it was 100% physical sales the current results are kind of - expected.

Eh, while I do agree that a side exagerates, you can clearly see by the replies here that the other side also exagerates that everything is fine after a few good weeks and no games on the charts.

So let's agree to disagree.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Man the stock issues really caused a problem for PS5 in Japan and worldwide. Looking good for December onwards. 2021must have been painful for them

 

[Fafalada]

Anyways the fact that they don't split PS4 / PS5 sales is also a sign.

Given the amount of cross-gen software, it'd be hard to accurately measure where the software should be attributed to (you can kind of do it with digital, knowing what console user is active on - but how will you attribute physical sales - eg. I own two disc titles, both PS4 SKUs that I upgraded to PS5 - and never used inside a PS4).
Basically - I don't think even Sony has accurate metrics on this - and while they could certainly report 'something' - other than couch-analysts, I'm not sure anyone looking at markets themselves cares even a little.

Anyway, historically, after successor arrived - every single platform (Sony or otherwise) declined really quickly in software (and proportionally - even faster when hw-declined).
We know PS4 hardware basically stopped selling in 21 and onwards - so it's highly probable the software purchases for PS4 have slowed as well. Eg. PS3 at this point in life was lucky to see 10-15% ratio in cross-platform releases, and we have trackers that still report this, showing similar split of physical PS4/PS5 skus (PS5 sales dominate, even when they are more expensive).

We also have numbers showing that Playstation platforms continue to sell 300M/year without slowing down (5th year in a row now), which btw, is 5 years of breaking previous record set by the PS2 @ 250M.
It would take a lot of mental gymnastic to somehow claim that a) PS4 software has not/barely slowed down at all, even though HW has been dead for 2 years. b) PS5 software is selling worse, even with evidence to the contrary with physical trackers. and c) all this is 'proven' because 1st party sales before Ragnarok weren't great?

 

[Woopah]

Fantastic hardware numebers for PS5, way beyond what I expected. Looks like the hardware shortage is finally over, and just in time for a year of some big releases. Still some concerns about software though (10-30 chart will be interesteing).

For Switch its the opposite issue. Hardware is defineitely slowing down but it has a good software outlook for 2023 following the Direct.

 

[kazuyamishima]

Seems that every week the PS5 sells a lot of units in Japan with very low physical games sales, if infuriates a lot of users, especially Nintendo Supporters even more.

 

[TLZ]

I think all the PS5s are straight shipped to China for slave Labor. It's a capable machine and can easily replace a factory worker. Sony are geniuses.

 

[SaintALia]

How bizarre....So many hardware sales but not a SINGLE PS5 game in the top 10, and the sales threshold to get in there is EXTREMELY low as well(5k).

I doubt it's 'well everyone's just buying digital' thing, so maybe people are buying up PS5's now before the price hike. Even then though, you'd expect even one PS5 game to go over 5k physical sales(even if the digital ratio is 80/20 split in favour of digital, stands to reason at least one game would make it in).

 

[Baki]

2nd highest week for PS5. 1st highest week was launch week. I wonder if Hogwarts Legacy will lead to higher HW sales next week.

 

[Mr Moose]

How bizarre....So many hardware sales but not a SINGLE PS5 game in the top 10, and the sales threshold to get in there is EXTREMELY low as well(5k).

I doubt it's 'well everyone's just buying digital' thing, so maybe people are buying up PS5's now before the price hike. Even then though, you'd expect even one PS5 game to go over 5k physical sales(even if the digital ratio is 80/20 split in favour of digital, stands to reason at least one game would make it in).

Before the price hike that happened in August 2022?

 

[zedinen]

I do think PS5 has a software problem wordwide

Especially in France and Italy

I think only Sony could know if PS5 in Japan has a big software problem.

The entire industry has a big software problem in Japan, where mobile gaming is utterly dominant and NSW and PS are secondary or tertiary platforms.

Japan: Units Sold (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31,2022)

TOT 17.13 M
Capcom 6.35 m
Square Enix 4.12 m
Bandai Namco 3.05 m
Koei Tecmo 1.89 m
Sega Sammy 1.72 m


Overseas: Units Sold (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31,2022)

TOT 91.33 M
Bandai Namco 33.16 m
Capcom 22.75 m
Sega Sammy 19.02 m
Square Enix 12.31 m
Koei Tecmo 4.09 m


Total: Digital Ratio (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31, 2022)

Capcom 91.2%
Square Enix 69.9%
Koei Tecmo 67.2%

Nice, all those PS5s sent directly to China!

For some weird reason, Nintendo fans want to convince people that PS5 is on track to sell 30 million units in China (4M PS5s sold, according to Nintendo fans)

Sony Group wish it was true.

PS5 - Active Console Volume Ranking (Source: Sony Group)

1. US
2. UK
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. France
6. China
7. Canada
8. Australia
9. Italy
10. Spain
11. Saudi Arabia

 

[SaintALia]

Before the price hike that happened in August 2022?

Oh, got it mixed up, Xbox is raising it's price in February.

Yeah don't know what explains that level of sales with such physical software sales. PS5 tends to skew more digital, but not THAT much.

 

[SaintALia]

Especially in France and Italy

The entire industry has a big software problem in Japan, where mobile gaming is utterly dominant and NSW and PS are secondary or tertiary platforms.

Japan: Units Sold (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31,2022)

TOT 17.13 M
Capcom 6.35 m
Square Enix 4.12 m
Bandai Namco 3.05 m
Koei Tecmo 1.89 m
Sega Sammy 1.72 m


Overseas: Units Sold (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31,2022)

TOT 91.33 M
Bandai Namco 33.16 m
Capcom 22.75 m
Sega Sammy 19.02 m
Square Enix 12.31 m
Koei Tecmo 4.09 m


Total: Digital Ratio (Apr 1, 2022 - Dec 31, 2022)

Capcom 91.2%
Square Enix 69.9%
Koei Tecmo 67.2%



For some weird reason, Nintendo fans want to convince people that PS5 is on track to sell 30 million units in China (4M PS5s sold, according to Nintendo fans)

Sony Group wish it was true.

PS5 - Active Console Volume Ranking (Source: Sony Group)

1. US
2. UK
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. France
6. China
7. Canada
8. Australia
9. Italy
10. Spain
11. Saudi Arabia

Mobile gaming is dominant worldwide, not just Japan or Asia. That's been a thing for the last couple years now.

 

[Oof85]

Seems that every week the PS5 sells a lot of units in Japan with very low physical games sales, if infuriates a lot of users, especially Nintendo Supporters even more.

You're delusional.

The scalped PS5 theory is the positive upside to the PS5 situation in Japan.
That means that there's hope for the platform when the demand from the surrounding areas is met.

The negative of the PS5 situation in Japan is that there's two point five million PS5s in the country and no one is buying physical software.

Do you realize what that would mean for the PS5's physical presence in the future? Or more worryingly, the PS6?

You don't move software then you lose retail space.
You lose retail space you lose mindshare because people aren't aware you're a thing.

Sony becomes an online only videogame brand because retailers won't justify the space when Nintendo is right there selling in droves, doesn't bode well for PS in Japan.

People are so stock stuck in console wars that they're not recognizing the forest for all the trees in the way.

So pray it's scalpers doing it and the outlying hunger is being met, because that literally represents hope.

Absolutely delusional.

 

[mckmas8808]

Oh, got it mixed up, Xbox is raising it's price in February.

Yeah don't know what explains that level of sales with such physical software sales. PS5 tends to skew more digital, but not THAT much.

Is the xbox price going up for both XSS and XSX in Japan?

 

[kazuyamishima]

You're delusional.

The scalped PS5 theory is the positive upside to the PS5 situation in Japan.
That means that there's hope for the platform when the demand from the surrounding areas is met.

The negative of the PS5 situation in Japan is that there's two point five million PS5s in the country and no one is buying physical software.

Do you realize what that would mean for the PS5's physical presence in the future? Or more worryingly, the PS6?

You don't move software then you lose retail space.
You lose retail space you lose mindshare because people aren't aware you're a thing.

Sony becomes an online only videogame brand because retailers won't justify the space when Nintendo is right there selling in droves, doesn't bode well for PS in Japan.

People are so stock stuck in console wars that they're not recognizing the forest for all the trees in the way.

So pray it's scalpers doing it and the outlying hunger is being met, because that literally represents hope.

Absolutely delusional.

Sales will start to pick up, and all console manufacturers are leaning towards digital in the future.

Is the xbox price going up for both XSS and XSX in Japan?

Yes, both consoles received an increase of 5k yen if I’m not mistaken.