UK video game sales now almost 50% digital

A sudden shift in shopping habits has accelerated a move away from buying physical copies of video games in the UK.

When it comes to video games the UK has always lagged behind other Western countries in terms of buying digital downloads, instead of physical copies at a traditional retailer.

The reason for that is simple: high download prices and shop discounts that tend to be more drastic than elsewhere in the world, especially for underperforming games.

But that situation has apparently changed significantly in the last few months, with website GamesIndustry.biz claiming that video game sales in the UK are now 30 to 45% digital. And more than 45% for some online-focused AAA titles.

Last year the split was just 15 to 25%, with the sudden increase being attributed to a trend away from launch day discounts in UK shops.

‘UK retailers have been selling new games closer to their RRP, so although digital titles are still quite expensive, they’re now closer to their physical counterparts in terms of price,’ said the website’s unnamed source.

‘Some consumers have clearly found that the convenience of digital offsets the now slight premium – whereas before they were paying upwards of £15 more for the privilege, that’s not the case this year.’

One knock-on effect of the increased popularity of digital downloads is that it makes it more difficult than ever to tell how well video games are actually doing, since the weekly sales charts only count retail sales and publishers almost never release their own figures.

But the sudden increase in digital sales means that some recent sequels that appeared to have done worse than their predecessors – such as Destiny 2, FIFA 18, and Forza Motorsport 7 – may actually have sold better overall once digital sales are taken into account.

Although with the 60% drop for Wolfenstein II we fear that’s not true in every case.

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