PC gaming in the UK is experiencing a digital revolution.

According to SuperData, the UK digital PC software market – comprising DLC, MMO titles and social games revenue – was worth £741m in 2014. This is a nine per cent increase on 2013’s total of £706m.

Meanwhile, UKIE and GfK Chart-Track state that £30m of boxed PC software was sold in the UK during 2014. This is a substantial drop of 30 per cent on the sector’s £43m value in 2013.

The revenue drop is more severe when you consider the average selling prices of PC games were up in the UK last year. PC games retailed for an average of £18.36 in 2014 versus £16.62 in 2013.

However, thanks to the strength of digital, the overall PC software segment grew three per cent from 2013 to 2014, rising from £749m to £771m.

The situation is reversed on consoles. SuperData estimates that the console digital games market was worth £118m in the UK last year, by contrast, GfK Chart-Track reports that UK boxed console games sales was worth £999m in 2014.

Last month’s MCV revealed that PC title Cities: Skylines would have been the UK’s best-selling game during the week beginning March 8th if digital sales were included in official retail chart statistics, ahead of triple-A efforts such as Grand Theft Auto V, Dying Light and FIFA 15.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-pc-games-market-hits-771m/0147770

physical distribution should just die on the PC

Yeah because we shouldnt own our games we paid for..

we should and i really like physical copies of games

but the amount of PC Physical copies sold are very very low and it literally costs publishers alot to push to the physical shipment of games

i also like to have all my games in one place or one format and the way the pc gaming is going and also console gaming,digital seems to be the future

It really doesnt costs that much to print a disk

If you buy physical you don't own the game either.

Sorry if it's already been pointed out (I didn't actually know this myself until the other month) but the vast majority of physical PC releases now are a disc and a steam key so you're still tied to steam even if you own the box, disc and a manual.

I wanted all my games ideally to be tied to steam on my PC as it seems the most upgrade friendly  way of having the games (access from multiple systems etc via download) so passed on The Evil Within LE from GAME when it was like £7.99. Then found out after I'd got it on Steam during a sale for approx the same price, that the physical LE with the extra stuff was also just a steam key in the box and a disc so you don't have to download the game files (not really an issue on a 40mb connection).

nope but to make arrangement and market and ship,it does.

man if you have worked in a product department,you would know its a hassles

Because choice is a bad thing and everyone has access to broadband internet?

this is not a democracy,its developers comfort as to where they put their games and most are going digitally

and if in 2015 you want to play games and don't have an internet connection,i guess you are living under a rock