Lately, people in the U.S. aren’t buying physical video games as much as they used to. A new study by Circana shows that physical game sales have dropped by over 50% since 2021.
This huge change is happening because more people are switching to digital games. Things like faster internet and easy online shopping on gaming consoles are making digital games way more popular. And when COVID-19 hit, it sped everything up, leaving physical game sales in the dust. Let’s break it all down and see what’s really going on.
Circana’s Findings: Decrease in Physical Video Game Sales in the U.S.
According to Circana data, people are spending way less on physical video games now. Since 2021, buying physical games has dropped by over half, and it’s down more than 85% from the peak back in 2008.
But here’s the wild part—spending on digital stuff like games, subscriptions, and in-game items has actually gone up since 2019.
On the hardware side, things aren’t looking great either. In December 2024, spending on gaming consoles fell by 29%, adding up to $1.1 billion.
It’s pretty clear people are shifting big time to digital gaming.
Factors Influencing the Decline in Physical Game Sales
There are two main reasons that contributed to the decrease in spending on physical video games:
- The Impact of Weaker Nintendo Releases
- Platform-Specific Trends
Let’s take a look and figure out the details.
1. Weaker Nintendo Switch Release Schedule
In 2024, Nintendo didn’t release as many big games as before, so there were fewer physical copies to buy.
Games like “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom” and “Super Mario Party Jamboree” came out mostly in digital form, with only a few physical copies available. Because of this, many gamers decided to download their games instead of buying the physical ones, leading to a drop in physical game sales.
2. Platform-Specific Trends
In 2024, the video game world saw a big change as more and more people started buying games digitally. In fact, digital game sales made up a huge 95.4% of the total market revenue.
Physical game sales were only 4.6%. This shift was even more noticeable depending on the platform. For example, on PCs, digital games made up almost everything—99%. On consoles, digital sales still held a big chunk at 84%, but not as much as on PCs.
Specifically, in Europe, the digital share of game sales rose to 68%, up from 60% in the previous year. This increase was observed across various platforms:
- Xbox: Digital sales accounted for 75% of total sales, up from 70% in 2023.
- PlayStation 5 (PS5): Digital sales made up 64% of total sales, an increase from 55% in the previous year.
- Nintendo: Digital sales remained steady at 22%, showing no significant change.
The data shows that digital gaming is preferred on all platforms, with Xbox and PlayStation users leading the way. However, games like Astro Bot did great in physical sales in Europe, but titles like Warhammer 40k: Space Marine mostly sold digitally. It shows that the platform prefers digital sales over physical ones.
Overall, the video game industry is moving more toward digital platforms, and physical game sales are really going down. In 2024, the number of new game sales dropped a lot, with only six new releases making it into Europe’s top 20, compared to ten in 2023. Because of fewer new games and the shift to digital, new game sales dropped by 21%.
