Physical Console Game Releases Are Becoming Rarer and Rarer

Console video game releases have become a rarity in recent years due to the rise of digital games. However with more and more consumers preferring digital content, physical console game releases are becoming increasingly rare as well.

The “physical console games are quickly becoming” is a topic that has been trending for some time. The physical release of games has been on the decline, as digital sales have increased.

PlayStation image

According to recent research, physical games have long been a thing of the past for PC gamers, but it won’t be long until the majority of console players follow suit, demonstrating how discs and cartridges are rapidly becoming more of a niche commodity.

Physical releases of console games are becoming more uncommon, according to an investigation by Ars Technica, a trend that is reflected in NPD Game Pulse measures. According to the data service’s findings, the number of physical games accessible has dropped from 321 to 226 since 2018, a nearly 30% drop, while digital games have climbed from 1,362 to 2,182, an increase that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the format’s benefits (e.g., convenience for gamers and lower costs for publishers).

However, according to further statistics from Game Pulse, the fall in physical game releases is not uniform across platforms. While physical availability of PlayStation and Xbox games has decreased by more than 30% (38 and 31 percent, respectively) since 2018, physical availability of Nintendo Switch titles has decreased by less than 7% during the same time period.

Image courtesy of Ars Technica

Physical console games are fast becoming a specialized market (Ars Technica)

Of course, focusing exclusively on the quantity of unique games produced provides a distorted image of the console gaming business. Games that earn a physical distribution are often among the year’s most popular games, with total sales likely to outnumber the overwhelming majority of bottom-of-the-barrel digital releases. These figures also don’t reveal what percentage of sales go to physical copies of games that are available both on disc and as downloads.
However, evidence from other sources supports the notion that physical media games are rapidly becoming a smaller and smaller share of the console business. Last year, Capcom said that digital downloads accounted for 80 percent of its new game sales, while Sony’s fiscal year 2020 figures revealed that digital downloads accounted for the bulk of PlayStation complete game sales.
Given the short lifespan of digital console game shops, the reduction in physical choices is becoming more significant to users. Hundreds of digital-only titles will no longer be accessible for purchase on the Wii U and 3DS eShops, which will be shut down soon. On the other hand, if such games were also accessible on physical media, they would have a longer shelf life on the secondary market.