10 Hottest Gaming Trends To Keep An Eye On
6. Digital Console Variants & Sales Trends
Although sales of physical versions of games have been rising steadily over the last few years, digital media has seen a massive increase.
Back in 2018, 43% of all of Sony’s game software downloads were digital games, and this figure increased to 55% in 2019. And this is not just affecting PlayStation, as the latest information on digital media shows this is a common change for the whole industry.
Data published by GameIndustry.biz revealed that in just the UK alone, 67% of all game sales were digital. That is a 20% increase of digital sales from 2019 in one of the largest gaming markets in the world, while sales of physical games only increased by 2%.
Digital sales have had such a big impact on the industry that both Sony and Microsoft decided to make digital versions of their consoles, in an attempt to cater to gamers' recent preference for digital media.
What is still uncertain is whether the demand for digital media will decrease and level out over time or if it will continue to grow and potentially lead to physical versions of games becoming more uncommon.