14 DAY TRIAL // Digital and retail game sales will reach equal grounds this year, at least according to a games industry analyst who even goes so far as to forecast a rise to power of digital titles in 2016, much to the chagrin of brick and mortar stores.
For quite some time now, there has been a pretty big war between digital and retail game stores, especially since the PC, not to mention major consoles are selling almost everything via online marketplaces like Steam, the PS Store, or Xbox Live.
However, for the last few years, figures are still favoring retail games, showing that customers still want to have physical discs in their hands.
Retail isn't dominating
Things will change in 2015, according to EEDAR analyst Patrick Walker, who tells GamesIndustry that the recent Black Friday 2014 saw dwindling retail sales in traditional stores like Walmart, Gamestop, or Best Buy, and much bigger figures through digital marketplaces.
"While rapid growth in console digital sales was expected with the launch of the 8th generation, the shift is occurring faster than many in the industry expected. [2014's] Black Friday marked a turning point, in which initial retail estimates suggested the games industry was down year-over-year, but as EEDAR talked with clients and the full picture came in, the real story is that digital is a huge force on every platform now, including the HD consoles," he explains.
Digital will soon be king
The growth trend won't stop anytime soon and Walker even goes so far as to proclaim that parity between retail and digital sales is going to be achieved this year. What's more, once 2016 rolls around, games will see their digital versions sell much better than retail editions.
"I estimate that as we close out 2014 digital sales are approaching retail sales, parity will be reached at some point in 2015, and by 2016, digital will be king," he reveals.
It's interesting to see what big companies like Sony or Microsoft will do to promote their digital stores across the PS4 and Xbox One, respectively, as they must also ensure that they're on good terms with retail stores that actually sell the two consoles.