News - Digital distribution overtakes retail PC game sales

[HEXUS]

Legal downloads outstrip boxed sales, but revenue still lags behind.

Read more.

[Percy1983]

Well personally I buy most games once they are cheap, and generally when steam has a sale they go cheaper than they are in the shops. Where as if I can't wait for a new release steam is generally more expensive eg I have dead rising 2 pre-ordered for £17.95 with an online retailer for a physical copy in the post.

[Saracen]

I agree with Percy. I don't care for online distribution (though I know some others love it, for reasons that are valid to them), and I will not pay top dollar to get games on release, when I can get them for a fraction (and fairly often, a small fraction) between a few months and a year or two later. But that's me - I'd rather wait and often pay anything from £1.99 to £4.99 than buy on release and pay maybe 10 times that, or more.

Nevertheless, I'm not surprised that digital distribution has overtaken physical, and sadly, from my perspective anyway, it's probably a trend set to continue.

[BullDogg]

My problem is that I'm a sucker for a deal. I've bought a ton of games (many of which I've barely played) because Steam had them on sale.

Outside of the offers, though, Amazon (or Game, Play or any other e-tailer) often sells games for about the same. Given the choice of a digital copy and a boxed copy for about the same price - or even a few pounds more - I'll always go the boxed copy. Call me old fashioned, but I just prefer to have something in my hand at the end of the day, even if Steam is a lot more convenient.

[Saracen]

My only problem with boxed copies is that I seem to be physically incapable of throwing then away, or even selling them on. And I'm now faced with a fairly serious storage problem.

But it's like books .... electronic copies may have some practical advantages, especially when travelling, but it just ain't the same having an e-book as a 'proper' printed one. And if I have a problem storing games, you ought to see my book collection.

[handscombmp]

I'm a fan of steam for it's ease of use and often it's quicker to download a game overnight than wait a couple of days for delivery.

It will normally go for the cheaper version though, unless steam is just a couple of pounds extra as i see that as worth it if it means i could play the game in a couple of hours.

The only major niggle i have with steam is their preloading release times.
Take the F1 game out on Friday. I've preloaded it but it won't be unlocked till 6pm!
Can't see the logic in that. Whilst if I'd brought it from game it would be here come 10am with the post. (Would have brought it from game but i can't find the PC version anywhere online apart from steam)

[Percy1983]

Seen the F1 on shopto.net at £20 but they aren't taking any more orders.

[aidanjt]

I agree with Percy. I don't care for online distribution (though I know some others love it, for reasons that are valid to them), and I will not pay top dollar to get games on release, when I can get them for a fraction (and fairly often, a small fraction) between a few months and a year or two later. But that's me - I'd rather wait and often pay anything from £1.99 to £4.99 than buy on release and pay maybe 10 times that, or more.

Nevertheless, I'm not surprised that digital distribution has overtaken physical, and sadly, from my perspective anyway, it's probably a trend set to continue.

I'm sure you'll be able to carry on buying discs from online stores even when bricks 'n motor dies the death it deserves. But sadly, I don't see any advantage to doing so with current draconian DRM schemes reducing resale value to the grand price of -£0.00. :/

[AGTDenton]

I still buy boxed (plastic DVD case). But with online activations there's probably no point. I like to believe I can still play my games in 10 years time, but with games requiring online activation I now think this won't be possible, until that day comes I will continue buying boxed. Today I still play Carmageddon 1, Deus Ex 1, C&C 1, Mafia I + a million others From 10 years or more.

They should shrink the size of the current cases unless it comes with a map. The cases could be CD sized and thin like the supplement DVD's you get with magazines. The boxes rarely provide any useful guides so you have to go online, find the PDF on the disc or just follow the in-game trainer for valuable info.

But at the end of the day no-one is buying PC games any more, so lets get em while we can.

[Biscuit]

balls to reselling games, i love picking them back up after a few years and seeing if i can stil complete them with my eyes closed. A lot of my hard copies of old games have dissapeared due to lending them to friends and moving around with uni but steams sales have been awesome in sorting that out without too much of a bank balance dent!

There was a long time i didnt like steam. It had a bad GUI, it was buggy, unstable, wasnt much to choose from and of course there was the chance that it could have gone under and we all lost our content. Now though, Steam is a pretty well sustained company and all of those dislikes have gone.

No scratched up disks, automatic updating, decent friends chat app and the occational bargain. Love it

[ploo]

Is this really a suprise? With Steam I can't imagine buying boxed games. The simplicity, constant updates and how I can download the game straight after format and never have to worry about losing the disk.

[spoon_]

The only problem with Steam is - what if they will go bust?

[Biscuit]

givin that they are the primary online game distributor in an expanding market... i dont see it myself.

[matty-hodgson]

The only problem with Steam is - what if they will go bust?

Personally, that's a chance I'll take. I really can't see them going bust, well not in the next few years anyway.

[aidanjt]

Personally, that's a chance I'll take. I really can't see them going bust, well not in the next few years anyway.

And Steam is much much less likely to go offline than random disparate activation servers because the publisher can't be arsed supporting it anymore.

[dangel]

And Steam is much much less likely to go offline than random disparate activation servers because the publisher can't be arsed supporting it anymore.

Very true.

Still, I wonder if this 'survey' takes into account mail order for games - lots of us use that because for new games, it's often cheaper! I use steam a lot (and I really like it) but publishers love to keep steam prices up high because the ease of 'click, buy, download, autopatch, community/mp' means lots of sales at full price (people are lazy). I've got preorders for several games with mail order retailers (fallout 3 for example) but at the same price i'd probably of taken the steam route. Don't give a stuff about boxes, installation from disc seems a chore now and i rarely go back to games (although again, with steam this is very easy).