Support NeoGAF

[Hyper_hyper]

Got more recent digital/physical % splits? I am always open to learn more.

Lol. Digital grew significantly since 4 years ago, as Sony financials proves that. You literally have a tweet in my post. Also, check the latest Capcom's reports. Using your logic, i can use data from 2013 where digital was between 5-10% when PS4 launched. You see, people prefer physical. :/ No, they don't.

 

[calico]

For digital sales via the PlayStation Store, Sony books the full sale price, with the publisher's share deducted only afterward.

Is that actually confirmed anywhere? I would expect them to only count their cut as revenue, but I haven't seen it confirmed one way or the other.

 

[tomato shrub]

These stats are propaganda, supposed to gaslight critics. They naturally don't include people playing with used copies or borrowed games. Unsurprisingly, that's the thing that Sony wants to kill. And they are inflated with DLC and digital-only purchases like skin packs for Call of Duty or whatever.

 

[Fabieter]

Is that actually confirmed anywhere? I would expect them to only count their cut as revenue, but I haven't seen it confirmed one way or the other.

It is known yes

 

[GHG]

The figure is across all games, not just their 1st party games or AAA releases.

Most games don't even get physical releases these days.

 

[Fabieter]

You think that the royalty split will even a 95% gap which includes it's own first party game and DLC sales? I'm curious what you think the real revenue split is.

I dont care about even it out. It is a fact that those numbers are framed in a way for a specific narrative which wouldn't be necessary if it was actually this "impressive"

One thing for sure with the fair comparison it would be beyond the 15% sony is claiming.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

Everyone on twitter thinks they're an expert. Sony isn't making 1000 times more revenue on digital compared to physical sales because of games like my name is mayo. I wish people would just think about what they're actually arguing for

That guy actually analyzes the gaming market in Asia for a living he's not just some nobody. People are far too emotional these days, they only want to hear something that confirms their bias.

 

[Alex Scott]

Sony sold 317 million games in fy25. Of that 78 percent of the games were digital.

 

[calico]

It is known yes

How is it known?

 

[MMaRsu]

Sony sold 317 million games in fy25. Of that 78 percent of the games were digital.

How many of those were digital only

 

[MisterXDTV]

I just want people to understand this simple point, even if the 85/90% digital sales figure was right ( it isn't ) that still wouldn't justify going full digital in the future.

 

[GHG]

Sony sold 317 million games in fy25. Of that 78 percent of the games were digital.

I get that people are emotional about this, especially for people who have been purchasing physical games their whole lives (or "physical" in the case of today's releases, but that's for a different discussion), but I'm surprised that for an enthusiast forum, most people have not been keeping abreast of industry trends.

 

[Miles708]

 

[Hyper_hyper]

There is a trend towards digital but the 85% is complete bullshit for very different reasons.

You will bigger percentage for digital in next financial reports. And even bigger after that, and even bigger after after that.

 

[calico]

And they are inflated with DLC and digital-only purchases like skin packs for Call of Duty or whatever.

The physical/digital ratio they give is full games only.

The 'digital software' line is full games only.

 

[Fabieter]

How is it known?

Under accounting standards, it comes down to whether a company is acting as the Principal" (the seller) or the Agent" (an intermediary) in a transaction:

Digital Sony runs the PlayStation Store itself, sets the prices, and collects payment directly from the customer. This makes Sony the Principal in accounting terms the full sale price gets booked as revenue, with the publisher's cut deducted afterward as a cost/payout.

**Physical:** For disc sales, the retailer is the one selling to the end customer. Sony only receives a royalty/licensing fee from the publisher. This makes Sony more of an **Agent** in the chain → only Sony's own fee gets booked as revenue, not the full retail price.

They dont do anything wrong tho.

Sony sold 317 million games in fy25. Of that 78 percent of the games were digital.

So hows this even a comparison with many games not being available physically. Like what.

People who defend this deserve to be scammed and robbed by sony.

 

[Fabieter]

You will bigger percentage for digital in next financial reports. And even bigger after that, and even bigger after after that.

Playstation fanboys are such a hivemind with no dignity. Holy shit.

 

[GHG]

Are we really back to "indies don't count"?

This is 2026. They do count and now make up a huge proportion of the market to the extent that collectively they have created an existential threat to some of the more vulnerable AAA studios.

The data is the data.

And I don't want to see any bullshit about how indies now suddenly suck or whatever when we've had a ton of discussions about how they've been saving and holding the industry up in recent years as AAA studios have continually tripped over themselves.

There are plenty of ways to attack and object to this decision, but this isn't it.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

I use that drive for 4k Blu-ray's…maybe it does not represent because we don't know what's in the drive.

The attachment drive sales, preference for disc PS5 (I actually only skipped the pro for this reason), what's in the drive, is it used? When code in boxes don't sell, what does the Nintendo exclusive game section do for their machine?

 

[Hyper_hyper]

Playstation fanboys are such a hivemind with no dignity. Holy shit.

You can ignore numbers as much as you want, and I've told ya that i'm pro physical, but it is how it is. Calling me a fanboy and others because vast majority of gamers PREFER digital. LOL. You are an idiot

 

[Miles708]

Are we really back to "indies don't count"?

This is 2026. They do count and now make up a huge proportion of the market to the extent that collectively they have created an existential threat to some of the more vulnerable AAA studios.

The data is the data.

And I don't want to see any bullshit about how indies now suddenly suck or whatever when we've had a ton of discussions about how they've been saving and holding the industry up in recent years as AAA studios have continually tripped over themselves.

There are plenty of ways to attack and object to this decision, but this isn't it.

As i understand it, the point is not "indies don't count", but more like "if the physical version is present, the split is closer to 50/50".

Sony is operating in blatant bad faith trying to capture a market by abusing its status, and i fully expect EU and even US regulators to go for their asses.

 

[MisterXDTV]

The coping is strong here

You can't lie in a financial statement if you are a public company like Sony is

It's illegal

But people on Twitter say they lie...

 

[Fabieter]

Are we really back to "indies don't count"?

This is 2026. They do count and now make up a huge proportion of the market to the extent that collectively they have created an existential threat to some of the more vulnerable AAA studios.

The data is the data.

And I don't want to see any bullshit about how indies now suddenly suck or whatever when we've had a ton of discussions about how they've been saving and holding the industry up in recent years as AAA studios have continually tripped over themselves.

There are plenty of ways to attack and object to this decision, but this isn't it.

It's not that indie games don't count,of course they do. But if a scientist compared data like that in a paper, they'd still be rightfully torn apart for not doing it properly. Numbers have to be comparable, otherwise the data is useless.

 

[Fabieter]

You can ignore numbers as much as you want, and I've told ya that i'm pro physical, but it is how it is. Calling me a fanboy and others because vast majority of gamers PREFER digital. LOL. You are an idiot

I really hope you don't work anywhere where data matters if this is how you operate. It's also proof that PlayStation fanboys will swallow anything — there's never a point where someone like you says "stop." Ridiculous, but you people deserve what's coming.

 

[Astray]

Answer to the title's question is: Yes it does.

People don't really realize that digital is a big big reason why gaming has been very cheap and accessible ans why indies even exist at scale.

The real question is about consumer rights under this new paradigm, the more we talk about obsolete distribution methods the more we lose sight of the real battle that actually matters.

Call your regulators.

The figure I would like to see is how many of the digital sales numbers come from digital discounted sales, versus Day 1 purchases.

Why would that matter in a unit comparison?

 

[LyricalShrike]

I dont care about even it out. It is a fact that those numbers are framed in a way for a specific narrative which wouldn't be necessary if it was actually this "impressive"

One thing for sure with the fair comparison it would be beyond the 15% sony is claiming.

If you assume the worst case of all digital revenue being from royalties and the best case that physical revenue is fully booked as profit then it works out to right around a 15-85 margin split like Sony said. Sony has no narrative in financial reporting other than explaining it's business.

The concept isn't unique . Nintendo frequently attributes it's increasing margin to greater digital sales. Microsoft basically ditched physical from the generation's start.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

I really hope you don't work anywhere where data matters if this is how you operate. It's also proof that PlayStation fanboys will swallow anything — there's never a point where someone like you says "stop." Ridiculous, but you people deserve what's coming.

You are an idiot, man. We saw what is coming for years. Only who obtuse here is you.

Business Game Dev  Thread 'CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital, PC has also become the main platform, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales'

May 13, 2026

CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital

CAPCOM has revealed that a staggering 93% of their sales come from digital purchases, a number continuing grow each quarter.

primagames.com

For a while now, digital sales have become the preferred choice for most gamers, largely due to their convenience. In the Digital Contents section of its presentation, CAPCOM confirmed that digital sales increased from 90% in 2024 to 93% in 2026.

PC has also become the main platform for CAPCOM, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales, and those sales are almost...

• IbizaPocholo
• Replies: 174
• Forum: Gaming Discussion

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Despite +50% is from PC, vast majority of console sales are digital too and these games are AAA games.

 

[Fabieter]

You are an idiot, man. We saw what is coming for years. Only who obtuse here is you.

Business Game Dev  Thread 'CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital, PC has also become the main platform, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales'

May 13, 2026

CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital

CAPCOM has revealed that a staggering 93% of their sales come from digital purchases, a number continuing grow each quarter.

primagames.com

For a while now, digital sales have become the preferred choice for most gamers, largely due to their convenience. In the Digital Contents section of its presentation, CAPCOM confirmed that digital sales increased from 90% in 2024 to 93% in 2026.

PC has also become the main platform for CAPCOM, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales, and those sales are almost...

• IbizaPocholo
• Replies: 174
• Forum: Gaming Discussion

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Despite +50% is from PC, vast majority of console sales are digital too and these games are AAA games.

 

[GHG]

As i understand it, the point is not "indies don't count", but more like "if the physical version is present, the split is closer to 50/50".

Sony is operating in blatant bad faith trying to capture a market by abusing its status, and i fully expect EU and even US regulators to go for their asses.

You're looking at this the wrong way round.

Indie titles, GAAS titles and the soon to be released GTA 6 are living proof that a physical version of a game isn't necessary in order to be successful.

Now an individual studio or publisher might decide to not release a physical version for a variety or reasons (such as ease of publishing in the case of indie studios, all the way to outright greed in the case of Rockstar), but the unfortunate truth is that over the course of this generation the data has proven that releasing a physical version of your game does not determine your success and in pretty much all cases does not hamper your ability to be successful.

Recent cases in point:

Arc Raiders tops 16 million sales and could be heading to China

More than half of active Arc Raiders players spent over 100 hours in-game during Q1.

www.gamedeveloper.com

16 million sales no physical release.



7 million sales no physical release.

Crimson Desert tops 6M sales within three months

Crimson Desert, the colossal RPG by Pearl Abyss, has surpassed over six million sales in less than three months after its launch in March.

www.gamedeveloper.com

6 million sales despite this.


On the other hand the unfortunate truth is that despite physical releases, studios like Tango, Bluepoint and the vast majority of Ubisoft haven't been able to survive.

So when the overall data is trending towards 80%+ physical and the ever shrinking ~20% isn't significant enough to be the determinate of success or failure for your game/studio, this was only ever going to end in one way.

 

[Fabieter]

If you assume the worst case of all digital revenue being from royalties and the best case that physical revenue is fully booked as profit then it works out to right around a 15-85 margin split like Sony said. Sony has no narrative in financial reporting other than explaining it's business.

The concept isn't unique . Nintendo frequently attributes it's increasing margin to greater digital sales. Microsoft basically ditched physical from the generation's start.

It is the other way around. Show me your math if you claim such bs.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

No arguments left? Only calling others when numbers shows you the reality?

 

[xrnzaaas]

You are an idiot, man. We saw what is coming for years. Only who obtuse here is you.

Business Game Dev  Thread 'CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital, PC has also become the main platform, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales'

May 13, 2026

CAPCOM Reveals 93% of Its Game Sales Are Now Digital

CAPCOM has revealed that a staggering 93% of their sales come from digital purchases, a number continuing grow each quarter.

primagames.com

For a while now, digital sales have become the preferred choice for most gamers, largely due to their convenience. In the Digital Contents section of its presentation, CAPCOM confirmed that digital sales increased from 90% in 2024 to 93% in 2026.

PC has also become the main platform for CAPCOM, accounting for around 54.5 percent of their total sales, and those sales are almost...

• IbizaPocholo
• Replies: 174
• Forum: Gaming Discussion

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Despite +50% is from PC, vast majority of console sales are digital too and these games are AAA games.

Funny how both RE9 and Pragmata immediately ran out of stock this year. Coincidence or were they really not expecting high interest during launch week? Capcom must be super sad that people who couldn't get a disc version opted for digital with no resell and borrow options.

 

[Alex Scott]

Answer to the title's question is: Yes it does.

People don't really realize that digital is a big big reason why gaming has been very cheap and accessible ans why indies even exist at scale.

The real question is about consumer rights under this new paradigm, the more we talk about obsolete distribution methods the more we lose sight of the real battle that actually matters.

Call your regulators.


Why would that matter in a unit comparison?

Gaming has it infinitely better than movies on that front. Gaming license is yours forever. It can't be removed. Where as movies or tv shows they are temporary everywhere they are available to buy.

 

[Fabieter]

No arguments left? Only calling others when numbers shows you the reality?

Bro you dont even understand what you are looking at.

You do even bring pc in the discussion which doesnt make any sense. Of cause there are some games some pubs which screw more towards digital, no forget it keep spreading the word of hulst .

It just doesnt make any sense to discuss to cooperate shills at this level.

 

[Fabieter]

Funny how both RE9 and Pragmata immediately ran out of stock this year. Coincidence or were they really not expecting high interest during launch week? Capcom must be super sad that people who couldn't get a disc version opted for digital with no resell and borrow options.

They dont care for logic. They just want to spread the word of their masters.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

Funny how both RE9 and Pragmata immediately ran out of stock this year. Coincidence or were they really not expecting high interest during launch week? Capcom must be super sad that people who couldn't get a disc version opted for digital with no resell and borrow options.

Like new batch of discs couldn't be at retailers within a week. :/ It is not a console at launch.

 

[CloudShiner]

Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter? Whether it's a true figure, or whether it's 70%, 50%, whatever. Sony have made their decision regarding physical media and debating statistical nuances of physical vs digital ain't gonna change that.

 

[Astray]

Are we really back to "indies don't count"?

This is 2026. They do count and now make up a huge proportion of the market to the extent that collectively they have created an existential threat to some of the more vulnerable AAA studios.

The data is the data.

And I don't want to see any bullshit about how indies now suddenly suck or whatever when we've had a ton of discussions about how they've been saving and holding the industry up in recent years as AAA studios have continually tripped over themselves.

There are plenty of ways to attack and object to this decision, but this isn't it.

Physical was a massive barrier to distribution and essentially made players like Ubisoft/Activision etc into kings because they alone held the keys to physical distribution and printing at scale. Indies and innovation in the space only arrived once we started moving away from the norm of all games getting physical releases (sometimes with no reprints!).

The loss of this "moat" is the real reason why bloated AAA productions are stumbling so badly in recent decades. Phil Spencer actually captured this very succinctly in this leaked email (then proceeded to take on the big risks of two mega AAA publishers anyway because he's giga retarded).

People really need to wake up and start thinking about the future. The real fight here is over consumer rights in the digital world and people are instead screeching about discs that no one under 30 even buys!

There are teens and kids playing all-digital today and soon it will be all they know, if we don't act now by pressing regulators and governments then the amount of potential financial exploitation coming their way when they grow up is utterly disastrous. Norms are being built as we speak and they need to be scrutinized before they become reality!

 

[Hyper_hyper]

You do even bring pc in the discussion which doesnt make any sense. Of cause there are some games some pubs which screw more towards digital, no forget it keep spreading the word of hulst

Remove PC from equation if you want, ( Capcom put it, not me) digital is still big on consoles for Capcom titles. And those are AAA games. What word from Hulst? LOL. Sales data shows what you DELIBERATELY IGNORE.

 

[Three]

The figure is across all games, not just their 1st party games or AAA releases.

Most games don't even get physical releases these days.

This year it's going to be a bloodbath in terms of physical/digital revenue split with GTA6.

 

[GHG]

Funny how both RE9 and Pragmata immediately ran out of stock this year. Coincidence or were they really not expecting high interest during launch week? Capcom must be super sad that people who couldn't get a disc version opted for digital with no resell and borrow options.

It's bigger than that. The availability and production of discs themselves has been decreasing for some time now.

Are blank Blu-ray discs being discontinued? Yes — here's what it means for you

Sony confirmed end-of-production for blank Blu-ray discs in early 2025. We explain the timeline, regional availability, technical alternatives, and how to verify stock before it’s gone.

electronics.alibaba.com

Would Capcom have ordered more if more were available? Who knows.

But the fact is that consumers have continually shown that in the scenario where no physical copy is available, they will simply substitute in a digital copy, even at the same cost. Perfect substitutes in economic terms.

 

[Fabieter]

Remove PC from equation if you want, ( Capcom put it, not me) digital is still big on consoles for Capcom titles. And those are AAA games. What word from Hulst? LOL. Sales data showes what you DELIBERATELY IGNORE.

Sales data showes what you DELIBERATELY IGNORE.

Can give you this one back that you ignore data which isnt fit your anti consumer narrative.

 

[TGO]

I've posted this before in many threads but the physical/digital split for a new AAA single player PS5 game during the launch window (first 3 months) is about 40/60 in the US, 50/50 in Europe and 60/40 in Japan.

Sony heavily skews their data by including games that don't have physical versions. They do this to push a narrative that paints digital as the preferred consumer choice because they make far more money and have far more control over digital sales. Now they've pushed the narrative to its logical end, the justification for the end of physical discs.

That and Physical Sales have (despite what they say) been stable for over 6 years.
Everytime you see numbers (physical sales declining) is actually nonsense, they haven't moved.
They just adjusted and included more to tilt the scale.

 

[GHG]

Physical was a massive barrier to distribution and essentially made players like Ubisoft/Activision etc into kings because they alone held the keys to physical distribution and printing at scale. Indies and innovation in the space only arrived once we started moving away from the norm of all games getting physical releases (sometimes with no reprints!).

The loss of this "moat" is the real reason why bloated AAA productions are stumbling so badly in recent decades. Phil Spencer actually captured this very succinctly in this leaked email (then proceeded to take on the big risks of two mega AAA publishers anyway because he's giga retarded).

People really need to wake up and start thinking about the future. The real fight here is over consumer rights in the digital world and people are instead screeching about discs that no one under 30 even buys!

There are teens and kids playing all-digital today and soon it will be all they know, if we don't act now by pressing regulators and governments then the amount of potential financial exploitation coming their way when they grow up is utterly disastrous. Norms are being built as we speak and they need to be scrutinized before they become reality!

Yep, people need to stop fighting for what is already gone and start fighting for what's next.

The conversation should be about how to ensure Sony and the other console manufacturers ensure their store is an environment that is a fair and friendly environment for consumers. So that means things like their refund policy and the availability of game keys via 3rd party stores.

In effect, despite still making a console Sony are putting themselves in a position where their direct competition will no longer be other consoles, but it will be PC (in particular, Steam), because that is what they will be compared with going forwards as far as their digital store is concerned.

They've got away with shitty policies on their store for the longest time because of the fact that it has been optional for many consumers (dependant on what games they primarily play), but the moment they make it the only option is the moment it promotes direct comparisons to Steam because in effect they become the same thing - gaming platforms where digital is the only option.

If people want the real reason why they are ceasing PC ports, this is it.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Sony 100% doesn't give a shit.

 

[LyricalShrike]

It is the other way around. Show me your math if you claim such bs.

Sony's revenue for software is split for the quarter was 95-5 according to Sony itself. Your contention is that the numbers are distorted because they don't include COGS (which revenue never does). Assuming the case I said where all digital revenue is royalties (zero first party sales) and physical revenue is fully profit (not possible but immaterial to the point):

For every $100 of gross revenue in the quarter = $95 is digital and is $5 physical.

$5 x 1.0 = $5
$95 x 0.3 = $28.5

5/33.5 = 15%

28.5/33.5 = 85%

The split for the year is 20-80. The real number skew obviously scales further towards digital because Sony sells first party games and DLC digitally and it's own physical games do not have a cogs of 0.

 

[Bojji]

Something people DELIBERATELY ignoring and also laughing at pure numbers.

Gap is ENORMOUS

Does this include DLC, skins, MTX, shark cards and other digital crap?

 

[Pimpbaa]

Anime Fantasy Uni 3 sure was a steal for $0.99.

 

[calico]

sets the prices

Does Sony set the prices for third party games on Playstation store? This is where the principal/agent situation becomes less cut and dry imo.

Also I would expect the digital revenue to be much higher if it really included 100% of all sales.

Does this include DLC, skins, MTX, shark cards and other digital crap?

DLC etc. is 'add on'. 'Digital software' is full games only.

 

[Fabieter]

The split for the year is 20-80. The real number skew obviously scales further towards digital because Sony sells first party games and DLC digitally and it's own physical games do not have a cogs of 0.

So the digital numbers contains also dlc and shit.

So it isnt even comparable.

Does this include DLC, skins, MTX, shark cards and other digital crap?

Yeah it is including all digital shit and they compare it to physical.