Source: Newzoo, Statista, Thinglabs – Accessed January 2025
new2indysub on
Also the cheapest next gen consoles did not include a disc drive. So the most accessible way to play on console now is digital
SapphireKing99 on
Yet I’m still hoping they bring back cartridges. Physical media supremacy is the way!
Homie_Reborn on
Can you explain your “COVID accelerates digital” label? At a glance, COVID appears to have a negligible effect. The trend was heading that way anyway. Sure, 2020-2021 seems fairly significant, but is it any more than 2017-2018? Also, the five years post-covid seem to show less change than the five years pre-covid, again causing me to question whether COVID is accelerating this trend.
chundricles on
If anything COVID-19 slowed digital, since the graph levels off about two years after.
heliocetricism on
The covid accelates digital looks random to me, if anything decrease of physical is slower while digital grows steadily
Augen76 on
I was there, fellow game collectors. I was there in 2014. I was there the day the strength of physical failed.
The battle is lost, I doubt next systems will even bother with disc drives at this rate.
redwood520 on
I thought this was about board games vs video games till I read the comments
starker on
Wonder what the comparison to music would look like?
polomarkopolo on
Your graph really doesn’t support the idea that COVID accelerated digital
EC36339 on
If the Y axis is in USD, then it is possibly not corrected for inflation
THEWORLDISSQUARE09 on
Well when you bought a physical copy and they started putting a cardboard disk with a download code instead of a proper physical copy, you tend to stop buying them.
A-Grey-World on
Last time I got a physical game the case just had a slip of paper with a download code on it…. Utterly pointless and waste of plastic and resources.
funkybside on
the stacked bar makes it harder not easier to interpret this one. (Would make more sense if showing the total game sales was the primary objective, but from the title that’s not the objective.
Also not sure i get the covid-19 flag. It may just be another artifact of using a stacked plot when that’s not really an ideal choice, but visually as presented it looks like 2020 is not out of pattern and the rate of growth does not experience an inflection there.
The-student- on
Is this strictly comparing physical/digital sales of retail games, or is it including revenue from digital only games? Because that massively skews the data. Nevermind if DLC and subscriptions are included.
t92k on
What are we counting with “games” here? Does this include digital versions of board games such as those on Board Game Arena?
Keleos89 on
Even physical games are often codes in boxes nowadays. It’s been that way for years with PC, and now Nintendo is using KeyCards. With constant, multi-gig game updates for large multiplayer games and day-one patches, there’s even less reason for physical games on the shelf. Good thing some games are sold DRM free on PC.
CoogleEnPassant on
Terrible visualization and not descriptive. I thought it meant physical as in not video games for a while.
IMI4tth3w on
Does this include games that only have digital releases such as phone apps? I’m sure it would extrapolate well, but I’d be curious to see what the % looks like only for games that have both physical and digital releases.
I feel like a lot of this graph can be explained by the sheer rise of mobile gaming itself that effectively has no capabilities for physical releases.
Deto on
What’s also interesting is just how much growth there has been in games.
Whornz4 on
A lot of physical games are boxes with a download code. Even some of the physical copies are really digital
swizzle213 on
Im weird and still buy all my games in physical form
FraGZombie on
I still prefer physical, especially for nintendo first party titles.
ctriis on
It doesn’t look like Covid-19 significantly adjusted the trend at all?
LupusDeusMagnus on
I live in a big city from faraway country, when I was a child getting games was quite difficult because brick and mortar stores didn’t exactly keep the most diverse catalogue, so even if I knew a game existed and had the money, acquiring it might still not have been possible. As much hate digital distribution methods get, for many people, digital is the only one that reached them.
![[OC] The Death of Physical Games (2010 - 2025)](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/66ezsvwnggyf1-1536x1478.png "[OC] The Death of Physical Games (2010 – 2025)")
25 Comments
Source: Newzoo, Statista, Thinglabs – Accessed January 2025
Also the cheapest next gen consoles did not include a disc drive. So the most accessible way to play on console now is digital
Yet I’m still hoping they bring back cartridges. Physical media supremacy is the way!
Can you explain your “COVID accelerates digital” label? At a glance, COVID appears to have a negligible effect. The trend was heading that way anyway. Sure, 2020-2021 seems fairly significant, but is it any more than 2017-2018? Also, the five years post-covid seem to show less change than the five years pre-covid, again causing me to question whether COVID is accelerating this trend.
If anything COVID-19 slowed digital, since the graph levels off about two years after.
The covid accelates digital looks random to me, if anything decrease of physical is slower while digital grows steadily
I was there, fellow game collectors. I was there in 2014. I was there the day the strength of physical failed.
The battle is lost, I doubt next systems will even bother with disc drives at this rate.
I thought this was about board games vs video games till I read the comments
Wonder what the comparison to music would look like?
Your graph really doesn’t support the idea that COVID accelerated digital
If the Y axis is in USD, then it is possibly not corrected for inflation
Well when you bought a physical copy and they started putting a cardboard disk with a download code instead of a proper physical copy, you tend to stop buying them.
Last time I got a physical game the case just had a slip of paper with a download code on it…. Utterly pointless and waste of plastic and resources.
the stacked bar makes it harder not easier to interpret this one. (Would make more sense if showing the total game sales was the primary objective, but from the title that’s not the objective.
Also not sure i get the covid-19 flag. It may just be another artifact of using a stacked plot when that’s not really an ideal choice, but visually as presented it looks like 2020 is not out of pattern and the rate of growth does not experience an inflection there.
Is this strictly comparing physical/digital sales of retail games, or is it including revenue from digital only games? Because that massively skews the data. Nevermind if DLC and subscriptions are included.
What are we counting with “games” here? Does this include digital versions of board games such as those on Board Game Arena?
Even physical games are often codes in boxes nowadays. It’s been that way for years with PC, and now Nintendo is using KeyCards. With constant, multi-gig game updates for large multiplayer games and day-one patches, there’s even less reason for physical games on the shelf. Good thing some games are sold DRM free on PC.
Terrible visualization and not descriptive. I thought it meant physical as in not video games for a while.
Does this include games that only have digital releases such as phone apps? I’m sure it would extrapolate well, but I’d be curious to see what the % looks like only for games that have both physical and digital releases.
I feel like a lot of this graph can be explained by the sheer rise of mobile gaming itself that effectively has no capabilities for physical releases.
What’s also interesting is just how much growth there has been in games.
A lot of physical games are boxes with a download code. Even some of the physical copies are really digital
Im weird and still buy all my games in physical form
I still prefer physical, especially for nintendo first party titles.
It doesn’t look like Covid-19 significantly adjusted the trend at all?
I live in a big city from faraway country, when I was a child getting games was quite difficult because brick and mortar stores didn’t exactly keep the most diverse catalogue, so even if I knew a game existed and had the money, acquiring it might still not have been possible. As much hate digital distribution methods get, for many people, digital is the only one that reached them.