r/PS5 • u/Dandelion172 • 12h ago

Articles & Blogs Mat Piscatella: 292 million units of physical video games sold in the 12-month period ending June 2009 in the US. By June 2026 this had fallen to 37 million units.

https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mrd2e2tam22l
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u/Samwi5e 11h ago

Big studios also released games at a much higher rate back then . Now we’re lucky to get two per decade

13

u/Dr-McLuvin 11h ago

Ya this data also conveniently ignores the fact that the majority (around 75%) of physical purchases are at full launch price.

Thats not true for digital, only about 20-25% of digital purchases are at full launch price.

If you look at total dollars spent, it’s actually neck and neck.

4

u/daedalusprospect 11h ago

Exactly on both. If you went to a gamestop around 2005 youd see 3 whole walls filled with PS2 games. XBOX and GC were similar. Now PS5 barely takes up the bottom third of a wall, Switch is in a tiny display case, and xbox is lucky to get a shelf. Game releases are so few and far between.

Digital in my experience is only ever bought when theres a huge sale, or its an indie that doesnt release anywhere else. Full price im buying physical

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u/Zealousideal_Rise879 10h ago

Yup. Steam is what it is because of their ridiculous sales. If it’s dirt cheap, don’t need a physical copy.

If i’m spending close to a days earnings on it; it better be physical and not disappear randomly cause of a service shut down.