72% of UK/74% of US gamers prefer buying physical games

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I have a 125mbit connection, however still prefer to buy physical copies of games for my consoles.

 

On consoles digital downloads are more expensive in my experience, cant really be loaned to friends or re sold (yet), and finally in the case of the Xbox One download at stupidly slow speeds. I'm happy to save ?15-20 in some cases and get off the sofa and swap a disc.

 

On the PC however i'm happy to buy games digitally on Steam, I have the confidence that I can play them offline on the Laptop when travelling if required, I can always max my connection out on Steam, and finally Steam actually have good sales.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Digital is nice and convenient, but I prefer physical because of the resale value. I always sell games when I'm done with them and always consider this when making a purchase.

[Anibal P]

Can't remember what was the last PC game I bought a physical copy of, it's all steam for me lately 

[neoadorable]

No doubt download is more convenient, more environmentally friendly etc. But physical still feels more substantial, as in you go to the store, you interact with the people there, and then you have something to trade in - which is a huge factor for me. Having said that, out of the five platforms i game on regularly, only X1/PS4 i get some physical copies. The other three are all download by definition.

[Skiver Veteran]

I don't think I have bought any digital games for any of my consoles however to sound like a broken record because I feel like I've said this alot recently, if there were more competition and prices were competitive rather than at the max all of the time then I would probably consider it.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Doesn't say anything about how they performed the survey. Which could skew it radically in one or the other direction depending on how it was done.

Or, Occam's razor, most people prefer physical on consoles due to price and resale/trade value. The way it has been for years.

I'm guessing you don't like these figures as they are a "threat" to MS' all digital future, which as we know, they done a 180 on due to gamer feedback... Feedback that falls right in align with these survey results.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Or, Occam's razor, most people prefer physical on consoles due to price and resale/trade value. The way it has been for years.

The success of Steam and Battle.net demonstrates that resale is not a concern for many, if not most consumers. I have no interest in selling old games, nor in buying second hand games. Most of the people I know only buy digitally.

 

However, the PC market is substantially different from consoles. With consoles there isn't competition when it comes to digital stores, meaning people usually pay over the odds and the limited storage makes it less convenient - on PC I keep all of my Steam games installed, which takes 2TB.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

On PC I'm not interested in a physical copy as they wouldn't really 'go' anywhere as my PC is on a separate desk without any storage.

 

However, my consoles are all under my TV - and there are shelves for DVD's and games next to it. I feel about short changed if I've bought a digital copy of a console game. Plus they're more expensive 99% of the time.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

The success of Steam and Battle.net demonstrates that resale is not a concern for many, if not most consumers. I have no interest in selling old games, nor in buying second hand games. Most of the people I know only buy digitally.

 

However, the PC market is substantially different from consoles. With consoles there isn't competition when it comes to digital stores, meaning people usually pay over the odds and the limited storage makes it less convenient - on PC I keep all of my Steam games installed, which takes 2TB.

 

I was more so talking about the console users. PC is a different beast due to storefront competition and generally massively lower RRPs on games. There are also DRM free choices on the PC.

[spenser.d]

Nobody has mentioned that the digital sales figure is up five percent from last year in the US to 26%. Seems like a pretty significant jump. The trend is towards digital and I expect that to continue.

[Guest]

Screw physical junk.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

i think my 3DS is the only console i still buy physical copies for still. on my Vita, PS4 & PC i prefer digital now a days

[Ash]

I prefer Physical Copies but I usually buy digital for PC because it wait for cheap steam/gamefly/origin sales where the price is much lower than I will ever find a physical copy of.

 

I usually buy physical for console. I bought a few digital on PS3 but thats because they were on sale.

[jerzdawg]

I buy whichever has the best price or best offer to go along with it.  Last few games I bought @ best buy either gave me a $10 gift card, double reward points, or most recently Mario Kart 8 has a $10 gas card.  I have yet to see comparable sale prices on digital copies in the XB1 store. 

[spikey_richie]

The last physical game I bought was the WoW Cataclysm expansion, since then it has all been downloads. However, I'm a PC gamer not a console gamer. If I were a console gamer, I'd buy physical for sure.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Physical everything unless somehow the digital version is cheaper which it pretty much never, ever is.

Hell I just got back from Best Buy to pick up my copy of Watch Dogs on my lunch break. It came with $10 reward zone certificates, add that on top of the $20 in reward zone certificates I got for Wolfenstein, and I just got $30 worth of credit on the past two games I purchased. Until digital matches deals like that, I value my money too much.

 

I also really like being able to trade a game in or let a friend borrow a game way too much to give up those rights for the added convenience of not having to put a disk in and out of my console(s).

 

In fact pretty much every major game on PC I have been interested in at launch I also own the physical copy of (can enter the serial number right in Steam so I never even take out the install disk). Pretty much the only reason I have such a large digital collection on Steam is because of their great sales. Take the sales out of the Steam equation, and my digital collection shrinks substantially.

 

So until digital offers more than just mere convenience and actually means me saving money and even more important allows me to somehow trade in a game or let a friend borrow it, I will stay very far away with the exception of Steam sales.

[spenser.d]

Physical everything unless somehow the digital version is cheaper which it pretty much never, ever is.

Hell I just got back from Best Buy to pick up my copy of Watch Dogs on my lunch break. It came with $10 reward zone certificates, add that on top of the $20 in reward zone certificates I got for Wolfenstein, and I just got $30 worth of credit on the past two games I purchased. Until digital matches deals like that, I value my money too much.

I also really like being able to trade a game in or let a friend borrow a game way too much to give up those rights for the added convenience of not having to put a disk in and out of my console(s).

In fact pretty much every major game on PC I have been interested in at launch I also own the physical copy of (can enter the serial number right in Steam so I never even take out the install disk). Pretty much the only reason I have such a large digital collection on Steam is because of their great sales. Take the sales out of the Steam equation, and my digital collection shrinks substantially.

So until digital offers more than just mere convenience and actually means me saving money and even more important allows me to somehow trade in a game or let a friend borrow it, I will stay very far away with the exception of Steam sales.

You can get digital copies cheaper I'd you wait a bit. I'm pretty sure ryse had been on sale a couple of times since launch and will be again in June. I got the new tomb raider for half off on Xbox one as well during a sale at the end of march. PvZ GW was on sale recently as well. I'll sure other games have been on sale too, and that's not to m mention the freebies both Xbox and ps4 hand out of you subscribe. Deals exist, is shady I'm saying, you just have to be a little more patient and watch for them. I think they'll start to get more transparent and come quicker soon enough as well.

[s0nic69]

I don't sell my games, and I am not a collector of video games. With my xbox one I love being able to just pull up a game and play it right away. Not having to look around my shelf, and cases (because the game is always in the wrong case) for a game has brought me great joy. Getting shelf space back is also another plus.

 

Yes, I cant sell my games, and yes I cant share my games, but its not something I do anyways. I don't like sharing my games because they always come back messed up.

[McKay]

On PC I only buy digital copies, because I'll end up downloading a "No CD" Crack out of lazyness, and the disc will never get used again. Is there even a 2nd-hand PC game market? What with serial keys etc. I bought one digital game on Xbox One (Battlefield 4) and it took 19 hours to download. I could have walked the 20 miles to the store and back in the time that took to download (Xbox One had just launched, so the servers might have been taking a hammering). 

 

I also trade in my Console games when Im thoroughly done with them. 

[Crimson Rain]

with the data caps, no wonder.

[HawkMan]

Or, Occam's razor, most people prefer physical on consoles due to price and resale/trade value. The way it has been for years.

I'm guessing you don't like these figures as they are a "threat" to MS' all digital future, which as we know, they done a 180 on due to gamer feedback... Feedback that falls right in align with these survey results.

Occams razor, have a survey that's handed out at games stores and what's the answer going to be....eeeeexactly.

[Crimson Rain]

with the data caps, no wonder.

Just to be clear...I buy all digital.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Occams razor, have a survey that's handed out at games stores and what's the answer going to be....eeeeexactly.

 

Yeah, because imagine gamers of all types visiting gaming stores that cater to all demographics... Or should we all just act like basement dwelling "vampires" who cannot go outside? Just because you visit a store doesn't mean you have to favour physical, stores sell PSN/XBL cards, not to mention if you're a gamer and you're out and about chances are for hobby interests you'll simply browse gaming stores anyway. I do, I go into GAME fairly often and maybe only buy something 10% of the time. I still like to just look at gaming stuff, and laugh at prices. Lots of laughing at prices.

 

Just because you prefer something doesn't mean you avoid the alternative. I think most gamers will have a healthy balance of both physical and digital, with a leaning towards preferring one. 

[HawkMan]

Yeah, because imagine gamers of all types visiting gaming stores that cater to all demographics... Or should we all just act like basement dwelling "vampires" who cannot go outside? Just because you visit a store doesn't mean you have to favour physical, stores sell PSN/XBL cards, not to mention if you're a gamer and you're out and about chances are for hobby interests you'll simply browse gaming stores anyway. I do, I go into GAME fairly often and maybe only buy something 10% of the time. I still like to just look at gaming stuff, and laugh at prices. Lots of laughing at prices.

 

Just because you prefer something doesn't mean you avoid the alternative. I think most gamers will have a healthy balance of both physical and digital, with a leaning towards preferring one. 

 

But it still wouldn't get an even demographic.

[McKay]

But it still wouldn't get an even demographic.

 

Let's get a counter survey and have it pop up when you open Steam/Origin/Uplay to be sure  :rofl: