Well, ALMOST half:
Of the 44.8 million PC games sold in the US last year, 21.3 million of them, that’s 48%, were digital downloads. Physical unit sales only just managed to top that figure with 23.5 million, despite a year-on-year decline in physical game sales, notes the NPD report.
That’s a quote from CVG.com, which tends to get things right the first time around. I have to say, even as someone who’s seen downloaded games as the next “big thing,” that these numbers are fairly surprising and convincing. While I hate saying, “digital download” as it’s just one big fat redundant phrase, it’s all the rage now. However you name it, though, the trend of buying games across the big ole tubes is now as big as buying them from the big ole stores. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes to actually become the MAIN way games are sold. My bet is when they figure out ways to own and/or re-sell said games without a physical media component. I can’t wait to hear that these numbers get repeated on the console front, as well. Any bets as to when?
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