Skip to main content

NPD Group: 1 in 3 players choose digital downloads over physical games purchased at retail

1 in 3 players choose digital downloads over physical games purchased at retail
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The inevitable march of digital progress moves forward! According to sales tracking research firm NPD Group, consumers are downloading their video games rather than buying them at a store with ever increasing frequency. According to one new survey from the firm, 1 in 3 players in the US now prefer to get their games straight from the Internet rather than buying them at GameStop or Walmart.

NPD (via MCV) surveyed 8,500 consumers for its Online Gaming 2012 report. When asked whether they would purchase a game as a digital download or the same game as a physical copy at a store, 35 percent said they would download the game and the remaining 65 percent said they would buy it at the store.

Retailers like Best Buy can take some comfort in the fact that the majority of respondents are still interested in buying games on DVD or Blu-ray discs, and that these buying habits appear static. Ipsos MediaCT conducted a similar survey in 2010 and found that 64% of respondents preferred physical media over downloads.

When will the scales finally tip in favor of digital over physical copies? That depends on how the next 2 years play out for the industry. Part of the strength of physical media is the purchasing power of minors. People under 18 years of age without credit cards tend to have to get their video games in a store.

Game publishers with huge all-ages audiences like Nintendo though are trying to bridge the gap between digital and retail sales models. New Super Mario Bros. 2 for example will be available day and date as a downloadable title and as a cartridge. To mollify retailers worried about losing sales directly to Nintendo though, Nintendo is selling cards at stores like GameStop that entitle buyers to a download of the game. They aren’t selling codes free of any physical object yet, unlike some companies—Microsoft, Sony, and others sell credits for their digital distribution channels right at the register at GameStop, no need to buy a card of any kind—but Nintendo’s strategy could tip the balance of consumers that prefer downloads over physical goods.

Then again, consumers may drift towards digital models without the influence of retailers at all. More tablet sales, more smartphone sales, and more cross-platform releases of games means that retailers role is diminishing exponentially with each passing day. The consumers of 2014 likely won’t be as similar to those of 2012 as today’s are to those of 2010.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more