Far Cry 6, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratchet & Clank sold better at physical retail

From GI.biz: "The UK games industry is becoming increasingly digital, but single player games continue to sell strongly at physical retail.

Last year's best-selling new single player games Far Cry 6, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratchet & Clank sold more in a box than as a download. The one exception was Resident Evil Village, which was slightly more popular as a digital game.

This is according to the latest GfK and GSD sales figures, as published in the Entertainment Retailer's Association's yearbook."

[Nyxus]

Glad to hear it. Personally I only buy games physically.

[purple101]

Same. Good on us hey'

[GamerRN]

It's because they are single player games that people want to resell when done.

[lodossrage]

Yeah the only time I buy a game digital is when that's the ONLY way to buy it.

If I ever have a choice between physical or digital, it's physical I always choose

[Nyxus]

If a game is digital only I either wait for a physical release (by LRG for example) or I just skip it. Doesn't happen to often that a game I'm interested in doesn't have a physical release though.

[Smellsforfree]

Same, but with one exception: when a large part of the packaged content is in the form of a code to unlock a digital store DLC or additional game. For example: Bayonetta 1+2 for Switch physically came with the Bayonetta 2 game cart and a download code for Bayonetta 1. In those situations, I'll just buy the game off the eshop.

[JEECE]

Keep doing it. As long as a lot of people are buying physical, Sony will keep doing price drops and major sales on PSN. And then those sales and price drops will push retailers to do sales as well.

[Nyxus]

I plan to!

[autobotdan]

This was because of black Friday sales

[Crows90]

So what?
Digital stores have ongoing sales all the freaking time. Especially the PlayStation store.

Physical sales are more rare and much less common.

[autobotdan]

I'm just stating facts. Guardians of the Galaxy was the top selling physical video game on black friday. I'm not against physical discs. I buy them

[neutralgamer1992]

Contrary to popular made up belief both physical and digital will coexist, if gamers think that physical media will simply disappear in gaming they are simply wrong

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

There's always a possibility. Just look at the PC market, next to zero physical sales (all thanks to Steam, of course).

[MadLad]

There's virtually no such thing as physical on PC.

You're either getting a glorified Steam or GoG code; or you're getting a code for one of the major publisher's storefronts.
You're essentially just getting a game case.

Almost only physical games are older titles sold via those weird websites that try to preserve past PC titles, like DotEmu, or those random nothing puzzle/find them games you see on Walmart shelves.

[Profchaos]

Physical on PC has seen a bit of a resurgence recently though with some indie games getting physical releases.

Still there's a big part of me that misses the 90s and getting a game on a disc with a code and installing it and being done.
But us PC gamers we dug our own grave and pirated the platform to the brink of collapse when games like crysis were pirated to the point of pushing a PC based dev to come out and stare they had no choice but to target consoles with crysis 2

Steam did help bring back life into PC if you remember the mid 2000s no one bothered with PC and all of releases were pretty aweful think Spider-Man 2 unless you were blizzard and has a monthly subscription for your game.

[purple101]

Thanks to most laptops and some PCs, not having disk drives too

[jBlakeeper]

PC gaming and their consumers are different than console gamers. I mean who goes out and buys PC games?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@TheRealTedCruz,

As someone who has bought physical PC games in the past, there's not much point, the CD has so little data on it, they might as well just give you a download code instead (since you're pretty much downloading the entire game anyway). I haven't bought physical versions of PC games in a long time because of that (although I do have the Life is Strange physical collector's edition).

[JEECE]

I hope this is true. I'm all digital on all platforms, but I want some people to keep buying physical. The literal 50/50 split we have seen with some games on PS5 recently is perfect. The two groups need each other. When everything was physical (or at least before all games had digital versions), game prices stayed high forever. In the PS3 gen, major games would stay $60 forever, and you were lucky if you could get them for $45 used. When target would do buy 2 get one free, I'd agonize over which games were likely to stay full price longer so I use the sale wisely and save the most money. And in an all digital world, Sony wouldn't have nearly the same motivation to do PSN sales.

We need digital to push physical prices down and vice versa.

[neutralgamer1992]

PC is very different in my opinion. I think the most we will see is 70/30 but usually for most console games we will see 65/35 split

Xbox series S is available all the time yet gamers want series X and PS5 dual version. Biggest thing holding back all digital is the fact most time you can find physical games much cheaper than digital

My only thing is when people comment and act like digital accounts for 90%. The biggest thing when people talking about digital media is the fact they are counting DLC and Micro transactions revenue. That's usually included within the digital sales figures

I just tend to buy less and less games now because way too many of them feel like a chore to play. There are publishers who's games I don't even touch

UBI
EA(I will get mass effect only if worth it)
Activision (diablo 4)

Because too many publishers are being extra greedy now

[Crows90]

Console gamers are the reason for that. The push back when the very thought of a digital only console rears its head is what's keeping physical.

[MadLad]

I'd say it's also the used game market.
I don't frequent it anymore, but I could tell you virtually every time I did people would pull the used $55 new release off the shelf even when there were new $60 copies.

[Crows90]

@ted
Of course. But it's also console gamers that actually pertain to the used games market.

[Shiore2u]

Too bad paid online didn't receive the same kind of pushback.

[Crows90]

@shiore

Nobody's perfect lol

[neutralgamer1992]

Crows

And you can thank us too while you are at. Do you really want to be at the mercy of these console makers for digital sales. I can use the same comment you made against those who prefer digital because they want to enforce their preferences on others

What's wrong with having options is beyond me. Seriously if you prefer digital and I prefer physical why do either of us care as long as our needs are met

Ted

If I remember correctly a few years ago GameStop released their data saying that people who trade games make up for more than 1 billion dollars in revenue and that revenue goes directly back into buying newer games. So in a way even used market is helping sell new games

During school days I would finish a game trade it as soon as possible or sell it on craigslist and put that money towards buying a newly released game

[jBlakeeper]

Exactly. There’s just too many out there who still want to own an actual hard copy of the game. Buying a game digitally is just not the same as going out and buying a game physically.

[Smellsforfree]

I feel like MS tried to at the launch of XBox One when they flirted with locking discs to particular consoles. I love physical copies of games and hope that it never dies, but I think that, realistically, it will eventually.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I buy my PS4/PS5 and Switch games physically. I only went digital for Xbox. Glad to see physical sales staying strong!

[MadLad]

Physical media is only as prevalent as it still is because people constantly buy and sell games.

Why pay full retail on a digital version when you can get a physical version, sell it, and then put those funds towards something else?

We also still see multiple games actually selling better through digital, and that only becomes more prevalent year after year.

[TheColbertinator]

I'm a collector of the limited edition bundles myself. Nice to see the physical artbook, soundtrack or steelbook and I have them on my shelves for display

[Christopher]

1. UK is known for having ISPs w/data caps
2. Multi-console households, especially with kids having their own accounts on their own consoles (4 nephews under one roof is why I buy games on disc for my in-laws, for example).

[moriarty1889]

Good news. Prefer my games physically as well.

[Retroman]

Digital not my bag, Physical all the way.

[aaronaton]

Physical all the way, especially in a generation of £70 single player games. I recently sold rift Apart and demon souls to fund GT7.

[Profchaos]

From what I see retailers are pushing back against an all Digital future with games being sold anywhere between $15 to $40 cheaper than digital in Australia.

I'm a fan of a hybrid future if the entire game is on a disc and it's included licensed properties like music or characters then I'd buy it physically because those may be patched out after 10 years and if I really love a game I'll continue playing it on occasion for many more years than that e.g I just played GTA IV again and that's 12 years old now.

If a game is something that won't stand the test of time like the next cod or looter shooter game as it has an online connection requirement so the disc is useless without PSN or a internet connection I'll buy on a psn sale

[CobraKai]

I got RE Village as a download cuz it was PS4/5. The wife played on her 4 while I played on 5. Then I got the physical copy as a present.

[lnfiniteLoop]

always cheaper to buy discounted disc version in comparison to digital which is always expensive...

[Silly gameAr]

That's not true at all. Digital games are on sale weekly, at least. With the disc version, you can find cheap used copies, but sales aren't as often as digital.

[Ashunderfire86]

I love the game cover of Ratchet and Clank. Looks just as good as the game itself. That game is the best looking game on PS5!

[BlaqMagiq1]

This is nothing but great news. I will ALWAYS choose physical over digital.

[MightyHealthy]

Physical media will always be my preferred choice.
I still buy audio CDs and vinyl, who else can make that claim.

[ScootaKuH]

Good. While there's still physical games I'll continue to buy them. I've bought all my PS5 games physically so far, with the exception of Sifu. An all digital future isn't something I want to see.

[Rhythmattic]

Generally, Ill always buy Physical, but I generally opt for digital even if available as physical when it comes to VR titles....
Just so much easier moving between games when wearing a VR Headset and its sitting right, and setup sweet.....

[jBlakeeper]

I actually like to own a game that I really want. Not have it tied up in a digital infrastructure.

[Matpan]

I alway buy physical copies. Even when games are released digitally, I tend to wait for Limited Run or another provider to make a physical copy of the game. No matter how prominent an online service is, how mainstream and popular... eventually over the years, they all die out, and your digital purchase will, more often than not, end in a limbo.

I keep games form when I was a teenager still, and I plan to keep the current gen games I like into my old age. Gaming has been a part of my life since my childhood and a game collection is an integral part of my memories as picture albums or any other media I hold dear. And the safest way to collect them is by having a disc, or a cartridge and taking good care of it.

[Latex74]

I will not stop buying physical games . Most of the time I get them cheeper than the digital game . If the price dropped for digital then maybe I go that way

[Spartacus10]

Not surprised. More often than not PS store prices are a complete rip off compared to physical copies.

[ActualWhiteMan]

Duh…. That’s because of the second hand market. If there is no multiplayer, why the hell would I pay full price and not be able to flip it after I beat it? This just in, consumers are getting smarter.

[Junghova]

I prefer digital because I am too lazy to swap discs

[Youngindy21]

Same.