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[Roufianos]

I would bet that you've referred to Astrobot.
The physical /digital ratio Astrobot maybe suggest most people bought that game for their kids given children don't have purchasing power. LOL
You know, the vast majority of games that are selling on consoles are 3rd party games. Sony's games are few. Very few. So, using a only Sony game in favor of discs won't cut it. At all

Lol what, the same leak showed other 1st party games, including adult ones, doing well at physical. What a garbage point.

I am mostly referring to breakdowns I see provided by Chris Dring, who's an idiot, but has access to Europe charts. As recently as April he's saying physical sales can be as much as 45% on PS5: .

 

[Aressa]

It represents a manipulated data.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

Lol what, the same leak showed other 1st party games, including adult ones, doing well at physical. What a garbage point.

I am mostly referring to breakdowns I see provided by Chris Dring, who's an idiot, but has access to Europe charts. As recently as April he's saying physical sales can be as much as 45% on PS5: .

There is no "LOL WHAT. That leak also used a PS4 games where digital ratio was very small in 2013,14 etc. Since then it grew massively. So, using a +4 years old data is flawed and only using Sonys games is flawed.
Dude, that is UK. And UK charts DOESNT COUNT digital. :/

Sony Group Corporation - FY22 (April 2022 - March 2023) Financial Results:

• Digital accounted for 70% of Full Games Sales in Q4 FY22, flat YoY (71%) and up from 62% QoQ.

Here's a breakdown of the PS4/PS5 Full Games Sales Physical/Digital Split.

9.5m First-Party Games sold:

• Significant 34.4% YoY decrease: Down from 14.5m in Q4 FY21. (Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 launch Quarter)
• Significant 54.3% QoQ (!!!) decrease: Up from 20.8m in Q3 FY22. (God of War Ragnarok launch Quarter)
• First-Party Games account for 13.97% of the Total Full Games sold in Q4 FY22.

VERSUS

Sony FY 2025

Last quarter digital ratio is 85% and will only grow. Using a first party games sales as a PRIME example for some favorizing disc media narrative won't cut it. At all. Sony games are few, very few. Vast majority of game sales on consoles are 3rd party games, even AAA category.

 

[Fabieter]

So wait if a game is selling 85% on pc and only 15% on Playstation. Would you agree devs should scrap Playstation in the future?

 

[Effigenius]

Used is also a shrinking market, and before you jump on that statement, know I am NOT talking about Retro, which is growing as prices fly through the fucking ceiling. There is a reason GameStop barely sells games anymore.

And why would Sony count used sales? It is generally considered in their best interests, even by those who hate them, to minimize or eliminate those sales.

That's my entire point. They are giving us a number that's cherry picked and reflects the message they want to send.

 

[simpatico]

The company with all the actual data thinks it does and is betting their company on it.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Potentially when there are over 7000 digital games on PSN and less than 1200 printed games.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Potentially when there are over 7000 digital games on PSN and less than 1200 printed games.

Just goes to show that there is a lot of Shovelware on PSN.

 

[Bojji]

Just goes to show that there is a lot of Shovelware on PSN.

There are games like Forza 5/6 that are only digital.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Just goes to show that there is a lot of Shovelware on PSN.

There's a shit load of it, but you know they still count it since it is a digital sale, those shitty one minute platinums that people buy for whatever reason.

 

[bishopcruz]

There's a shit load of it, but you know they still count it since it is a digital sale, those shitty one minute platinums that people buy for whatever reason.

If steam is anything to go by, those shovelware games are, at best, a rounding error.

That's my entire point. They are giving us a number that's cherry picked and reflects the message they want to send.

I mean, that isn't cherry-picking. That's reporting the numbers. Adding used sales to the physical sales and acting like it means something is cherry-picking. Sony reports physical sales in a document in which they have a legal obligation to be truthful. The interwebs report physical sales in numbers pulled directly from their ass.

 

[Swolebro_Thickdude]

I am mostly referring to breakdowns I see provided by Chris Dring, who's an idiot, but has access to Europe charts. As recently as April he's saying physical sales can be as much as 45% on PS5

and that figure doesnt even account for people who prefer physical but get some or all of their games second hand.

That's my entire point. They are giving us a number that's cherry picked and reflects the message they want to send.

yep, creating a false narrative so when they break the big bad news, it goes down easier.

"statistics dont lie, but liars use statistics."

 

[asdasdasdbb]

There are games like Forza 5/6 that are only digital.

I mean, I'm playing Hades 2 right now. Which did get a physical release on Switch but not on the other consoles.

 

[Hector Hall]

Bro, just look at the revenue numbers for FY25

Digital Software:
¥1.056 trillion

Physical Software:
¥125 billion

It's an enormous gap, and digital revenue is 8 timers larger than physical. This doesn't happen because people buy Anime Fantasy Uni 3 for $0.99.



If consumers overwhelmingly insisted on buying discs, publishers would continue printing them because that's where the sales would be, but that's not where the sales are, and therefore a digital only market is exactly representative of what gamers want.

That data is false.

I mean, it's true, but it isn't.

90% of games sold are third party.

And how does Sony count income from thir parties?

For a phisical game, they only count as income the 12% royalty. It's what the publisher pays them for each printed copy, then it passes to publisher hands and the money from selling it isn't accounted for in SIEs report.

Meanwhile, for digital games, Sony counts the 100% of the sale as income, as it's SIE who receives the payment. Then, they count a cost of 70% that is the amount they have to give the publisher.

For a game that sold 5M on digital and 5 million phisical of, say, Capcom, at 70 bucks, in SIE accounting the phisical would be barely 42M, while the digital would be 350M, having sold the exact same amount.

But, for

 

[Effigenius]

If steam is anything to go by, those shovelware games are, at best, a rounding error.


I mean, that isn't cherry-picking. That's reporting the numbers. Adding used sales to the physical sales and acting like it means something is cherry-picking. Sony reports physical sales in a document in which they have a legal obligation to be truthful. The interwebs report physical sales in numbers pulled directly from their ass.

If steam is anything to go by, those shovelware games are, at best, a rounding error.


I mean, that isn't cherry-picking. That's reporting the numbers. Adding used sales to the physical sales and acting like it means something is cherry-picking. Sony reports physical sales in a document in which they have a legal obligation to be truthful. The interwebs report physical sales in numbers pulled directly from their ass.

Eh, if you haven't gotten it by now, I'm not going to explain it again. You can read up in the thread if you want to see why it's cherry picked.

 

[Witvow]

The math ain't mathin'

 

[Bigfroth]

Both my PS5's base/Pro are digital only I don't own a single physical PS5 game. I think they should still provide the option for physical discs.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Im 100% digital this gen, but physical should exist on closed ecosystems.

The biggest fight should be directed at "you only own a license to use said software, blah blah blah… we own the right to revoke, blah blah pretentious cunts we are"

Which doesn't apply to 99.9% of other products in the consumer world.

 

[yurinka]

I understand what it is. It's the split of sales.
It's not player preference. That's the topic.

When the percentage of physical sales is 1% in 2029, that won't 'clearly show player preference', it will simply show the split of sales. Behaviour and preference are not the same. I'd prefer to have bought Romeo is a Dead Man physically, but it was only available digitally. Everyone who bought it digitally wasn't expressing a preference for digital.

Sony (and your post) would have us believe the figure represents consumer preference. It doesn't.

The show sales split is the player preference split (on where they prefer to spend their money for games).

PS players prefered to buy 85% of the PS game units in digital and 15% physical last quarter.

The data shows that PS players preference on when they prefer to spend their money (and time, despite not shown there) keeps shifting from physical to digital games, and from game sales to addon and subs sales.

The data is not about your (or mine) anecdotical and statistically meaningless personal player preference, it's about the whole PS player population preference.

 

[bishopcruz]

Eh, if you haven't gotten it by now, I'm not going to explain it again. You can read up in the thread if you want to see why it's cherry picked.

The data shown here does NOT support what you are claiming, not in the least. You quote numbers then make assumptions that those numbers do not validate. It's not that hard.

The show sales split is the player preference split (on where they prefer to spend their money for games).

PS players prefered to buy 85% of the PS game units in digital and 15% physical last quarter.

The data shows that PS players preference on when they prefer to spend their money (and time, despite not shown there) keeps shifting from physical to digital games, and from game sales to addon and subs sales.

The data is not about your (or mine) anecdotical and statistically meaningless personal player preference, it's about the whole PS player population preference.

Exactly. People can hate that digital is taking over everything they want, but if the sales numbers were even close to what they were at the end of the PS4 generation, Sony wouldn't bother doing this.

 

[Effigenius]

The data shown here does NOT support what you are claiming, not in the least. You quote numbers then make assumptions that those numbers do not validate. It's not that hard.

.

they provide no information expounding upon the 85% number and are motivated to move people off digital. You have to understand the motivations behind what companies are telling you and not just accept everything at face value with no critical thought or interpretation. It's not that hard.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

they provide no information expounding upon the 85% number

It's literally coming from Sony's financial reports.

 

[DEAD ORIGINAL]

Physical gamers who buy brand new games for the collection aren't the problem, it's those people (the poor) who buy a game then trade it a week later.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

I have bought most games digital, but I wont buy next playstation because I want the option of physical. Simple.

 

[Valonquar]

Given that they price digital & physical the same, they are prob just tired of losing money on all the physical production costs, especially when paired with the fact they still have to support every physical copy with most of the digital patching\day 1 downloading anyhow

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Given that they price digital & physical the same, they are prob just tired of losing money on all the physical production costs, especially when paired with the fact they still have to support every physical copy with most of the digital patching\day 1 downloading anyhow

It's the same nonsense every time. They whine about lower profits from physical sales, yet they rip customers off on digital purchases.

No shipping costs, no production costs—yet digital games still aren't any cheaper.

The problem isn't physical copies; it's the rip-off pricing of digital purchases.

 

[calico]

PS players prefered to buy 85% of the PS game units in digital and 15% physical last quarter.

You don't buy a 'PS game unit', you typically buy a specific game. If that game is not available physically, then no format preference can be inferred from someone buying it digitally.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

No shipping costs, no production costs—yet digital games still aren't any cheaper.

Before this came out, I was thinking that instead of going to $80 in the PS6 Era, they might stay at $70 for digital and go to $80-85 for physical. Kinda like what Nintendo did.

 

[Fabieter]

You don't buy a 'PS game unit', you typically buy a specific game. If that game is not available physically, then no format preference can be inferred from someone buying it digitally.

It is a self fulfilling prophecy in the end.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

These are the relevant definitions from Sony financials:

"1 Hardware is revenue from game consoles including PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®5.

2 Physical Software is revenue from first party game software for PlayStation® consoles sold on discs to retailers, royalties from third party software sold on discs and revenue from first and third party game software sold bundled with PlayStation® consoles and PlayStation®VR.

3 Digital Software is revenue from full game downloads of both first and third party titles sold via the PlayStation™Store.

4 Add-on Content is revenue from digital content other than full games sold via the PlayStation™ Store, such as in-game currency, in-game items and expansion packages.

5 Other Software is revenue from sales of first-party titles and other titles published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, including add-on content, on platforms other than PlayStation® consoles.

6 Network Services is revenue recognized through PlayStation®Plus and advertising revenue. This does not include Game Software revenue.

7 Others primarily includes revenue from peripherals, including PlayStation®VR.

8 Hardware units are disclosed on a sell-in basis."

One important thing to consider is that while 'add on content' is digital in nature, some of it will be to people who have a physical base game. So in that case the selling of the physical game also facilitated the selling of the 'add on content'.

That's exactly it. Sony includes digital items that have nothing to do with sales of the final game in its total digital sales figures, which artificially inflates the overall percentage. DLC, Season Passes, and other add-on content are all counted as part of digital sales.

However, we know that PlayStation games developed by Sony sell far better in physical format than digitally, and by a wide margin. At least, that's what the 2023 leaks notably revealed.

 

[yurinka]

You don't buy a 'PS game unit', you typically buy a specific game. If that game is not available physically, then no format preference can be inferred from someone buying it digitally.

When you buy a PS game, independently if in physical or digital, you are buying 1 unit of that game.

That 85% vs 15% is also only counting the units of game sold. It doesn't counts units of F2P games downloaded, or units rented via game subs. So the percent of let's say 'units played' would be smaller than that 15%. And we also have to consider that the 15% also includes old games.

Yes, units or revenue don't reflect what percent exactly of players prefer one or the other. But they are the closest metrics available we have.

And yes, there are many digital only games that can't afford to release a physical version because it isn't sustainable for them (so if physical version would be required many those games very likely wouldn't exist) or simply don't see the point on releasing a physical version maybe beause it's a GaaS that frequently changes almost their entire code.

But in any case, that player prefered to buy that game in digital instead of buying another game that was available in physical.

If people would spend more money in physical than in digital, many devs would be able to afford to make physical editions of their games and would focus more in physical.

 

[Bojanglez]

I have bought most games digital, but I wont buy next playstation because I want the option of physical. Simple.

Which platform will offer that though? I feel these expectations that consoles will forever support archaic formats with diminishing demand are a little unreasonable.

Personally I think they should continue to press discs for PS5, but maybe at a premium and also be up front that the PS6 is all digital. Maybe offer an olive branch in terms of saying they will offer an external drive for PS6 that can play PS5 discs at most.

I think this may well kind of be the plan but bizarrely they can't talk explicitly about it because the PS6 hasn't been announced yet, so the poor communication is going to hurt them.

 

[PeteBull]

Physical gamers who buy brand new games for the collection aren't the problem, it's those people (the poor) who buy a game then trade it a week later.

Godforbid some1 is poor(aka by western standard 99% of world population ).

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I have bought most games digital, but I wont buy next playstation because I want the option of physical. Simple.

What platform are you going to play on then? Nintendo and Xbox won't be that far behind, and Switch 2 ports will be harder once next gen consoles come out.

 

[calico]

Yes, units or revenue don't reflect what percent exactly of players prefer one or the other.

Indeed.

That's exactly it. Sony includes digital items that have nothing to do with sales of the final game in its total digital sales figures, which artificially inflates the overall percentage. DLC, Season Passes, and other add-on content are all counted as part of digital sales.

Based on the definitions they should be counted under 'Add-on Content', not under 'Digital Software'. Whether they stick to that or not I have no idea.

Interestingly, a digital code sold at retail would meet none of the existing definitions.

 

[DEAD ORIGINAL]

Godforbid some1 is poor(aka by western standard 99% of world population ).

Hey cmon I was just pissing about.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

What platform are you going to play on then? Nintendo and Xbox won't be that far behind, and Switch 2 ports will be harder once next gen consoles come out.

PC, of course. Hoping my current device lasts for a long time due to the hw crash. Aside from that I have the switch 2 and if I for some god for saken reason would want to play on it, the xbox x.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

PC, of course. Hoping my current device lasts for a long time due to the hw crash. Aside from that I have the switch 2 and if I for some god for saken reason would want to play on it, the xbox x.

So you are leaving one platform because they are ending physical games and moving to another platform that hasn't had physical games in nearly 2 decades?

I'm going to assume that physical games is not actually the issue to you.

 

[Gexxy1]

So you are leaving one platform because they are ending physical games and moving to another platform that hasn't had physical games in nearly 2 decades?

I'm going to assume that physical games is not actually the issue to you.

It has been explained many times why this logic is wrong. PC is open platform and not nearly as anti-consumer as PlayStation's trash digital store.

Exactly. People can hate that digital is taking over everything they want, but if the sales numbers were even close to what they were at the end of the PS4 generation, Sony wouldn't bother doing this.

Prevailing assumption at Sony is that most of the people who buy physical will buy digital (on their ecosystem) if they are forced to.

If you told them they'd lose 25% - 40% of their business (what is likely the actual number of people who buy physical on at least a few occasions) they wouldn't have done this. They'll probably be right in the end that most of the people who buy physical will stay on their platform, but regardless they will have lost at least some business from this. But one digital copy sold makes more profit than one physical copy, so they can afford to take some of a hit and still come out on top.

Of course if the hit to their business is more than expected, the people who stay should probably brace themselves for higher prices on Plus and the digital store.