Global Software 21st July 2018

[Mnementh]

Mandalore76 said:

Mnementh said:

Probably. But is it enough to offset the physical numbers? As we hear numbers from time to time it seems digital is closing in on 50% on PS4 (depending on the title though) and for Switch is more around 25%. Octopath Traveler and Monster Hunter World seem to be outliers with bigger than usual digital numbers.

As an example (that doesn't say much, as digital ratio strongly differs between titles): if we apply the assumptions only to PS4-titles, FIFA would jump to the fourth place (God of War would be higher still) place in the current charts. But applying the assumption about digital to Switch titles too, then Taiko Drum master, Mario Tennis and Captain Toad would surely be overtaking it again, while Sonic Mania and Super Mario would be pretty close (I would need a calculator to see who is in front, and for assumed digital rates it is not worth to calculate it so detailed). Same for God of War, if we also apply digital for Switch-titles Octopath is surely at top and Mario Kart to close to call. God of War would be placed probably around second or third place. That's better, but it doesn't mean PS4-titles are just dominating the charts. The TOP 10 would contain seven Switch-titles instead of nine.

Still, digital numbers would be sweet. I really like to see how indies like Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight stack up. For that we would need digital.

I really don't think Fifa has that high of a digital ratio personally.  Annual sports titles lose their value within months.  Every Gamestop's used game section is flooded with sports games that were traded in anticipation of the next annual release.  Very few people go back to playing an old sports title years after release, so buying digital is a disadvantage if you don't plan on keeping the game long-term.  If there was a high digital ratio in sales of a series like Fifa, you would expect the physical sales to diminish in contrast, which has not been the case.  In fact, it's been quite the opposite.

Fifa 15 - 6.3m
Fifa 16 - 8.2m
Fifa 17 - 10.93m
Fifa 18 - 11.56m

Yeah, as I said, digital varies strongly among titles. All I want to say is, that if digital is considered the image wouldn't change totally to PS4-domination. Switch-software would still keep most places in the TOP 10, although probably not that dominant anymore. People come always in these threads with "...but digital...", but while this would change the perception for single games like MonHunWorld and Octopath Traveler, the overall split would not change too much. Because also on Switch games sell digital.