We're always being told how downloadable games are the way of the future, but a recent report suggests that, for the moment at least, their market share is surprisingly small.
A report from Games Investor Consulting quoted by Develop magazine, using stats from last year suggests that downloadable full PC games accounted for only 0.4% of games revenues, while downloadable console games accounted for just 0.1%.
It's certainly worth noting that 2007 has been the year that the PS3 and Wii really got their start in life - as did their download services - so the console figure will no doubt have increased. Even so, both stats suggest that the gaming community is dragging its heels in adopting downloadable games as a format.
Unsurprisingly, bricks and mortar retail is head and shoulders above the rest with a 72% share. Mobile gaming is performing reasonably well, given the amount of credit it's given by the industry, at 10%.
You can see the full breakdown below.
72% - Retail
10% - Mobile Games
7.3% - Downloadable Content & Items
6.7 % - MMO Subscriptions
3.2% - Casual PC Games
0.4% - Direct Download Full PC Games
0.1% - Direct Download Casual Console Games
Source: Develop
A report from Games Investor Consulting quoted by Develop magazine, using stats from last year suggests that downloadable full PC games accounted for only 0.4% of games revenues, while downloadable console games accounted for just 0.1%.
It's certainly worth noting that 2007 has been the year that the PS3 and Wii really got their start in life - as did their download services - so the console figure will no doubt have increased. Even so, both stats suggest that the gaming community is dragging its heels in adopting downloadable games as a format.
Unsurprisingly, bricks and mortar retail is head and shoulders above the rest with a 72% share. Mobile gaming is performing reasonably well, given the amount of credit it's given by the industry, at 10%.
You can see the full breakdown below.
72% - Retail
10% - Mobile Games
7.3% - Downloadable Content & Items
6.7 % - MMO Subscriptions
3.2% - Casual PC Games
0.4% - Direct Download Full PC Games
0.1% - Direct Download Casual Console Games
Source: Develop
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Comments
schnide 16 Nov 2007 16:54
1/5
That figure is low now, but it will change to the other end of the scale in a relatively short amount of time. Look at what's happened with music - does anyone buy CD's now?
Señor Crabbage 16 Nov 2007 17:07
2/5
yeah it all looks a bit s**t BUT ...
is that figure by value at retail or value to the publisher?
if you're a publisher or publisher/developer you'd have to factor in the cost to take your product to market, which includes production costs like disc duplication, box and manual production, shipping to retail AND a whopping great "quarter o the pie" to the retailer.
so this figure doesn't say jack about the reality for the people who care - the developers
didn't Team17 once quote in Develop that one of its downlodable games made back all development costs in 2 days?
is that figure by value at retail or value to the publisher?
if you're a publisher or publisher/developer you'd have to factor in the cost to take your product to market, which includes production costs like disc duplication, box and manual production, shipping to retail AND a whopping great "quarter o the pie" to the retailer.
so this figure doesn't say jack about the reality for the people who care - the developers
didn't Team17 once quote in Develop that one of its downlodable games made back all development costs in 2 days?
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Spanky2090 16 Nov 2007 17:08
3/5
That is a very good point but the thing that i think is putting people off is the waiting for the game to download. I mean just think about how long it would take a normal person with a 2MB line to download Assassin's Creed if it was available on Steam...38 hours it should roughly take to download 4.6GB (which is the size of a DVD disc) whereas within 30 mins to 1 hour you could have popped to your local games shop and back to open your game an put it in your console
Gordo 16 Nov 2007 18:19
4/5
Nicholas Hyett wrote:
That is a very good point but the thing that i think is putting people off is the waiting for the game to download. I mean just think about how long it would take a normal person with a 2MB line to download Assassin's Creed if it was available on Steam...38 hours it should roughly take to download 4.6GB (which is the size of a DVD disc) whereas within 30 mins to 1 hour you could have popped to your local games shop and back to open your game an put it in your console
which is why Valve let you preload game data prior to release, so you've downloaded the game before the official release date. I just left my machine on a couple of evening I've got the game ready to go
then all you need is the activation key on the release day
Bob 16 Nov 2007 23:12
5/5
How come Call Of Duty 4 is $80 (inc TAX), which equates to £40? The RRP over here is £35, and play.com are selling it for £29.99...How can they possibly justify direct download being more expensive?