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Forums - Gaming - Sony uses fuzzy math to claim that only 17% of PS5 gamers choose physical.

konnichiwa 3 days ago

To be fair if gamers want physical so badly those indie studios would also have physical versions of the game. (like some do)






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Cerebralbore101 2 days ago
Kyuu said:
Cerebralbore101 said:

What is your source on that 55%-65%? The only information I can find on it is a graph from 2011 that states it is $5 for shipping/manufacturing, $10-$15 to the physical storefront, and the usual 20%-30% cut that digital also pays. 

Pretty sure we had this discussion before and I gave you a fairly recent link from a reputable source lol, maybe it wasn't enough to convince you. @Zippy6 also shared another link saying the same thing. Curiously, there aren't many topics detailing this.

The articles I read had retailers fees at around 30%. Console platform fees at 30% (digital) and apparently 15% (physical). Printing/packaging/manufacturing/shipping add a percentage that I don't remember. But on the Switch 2, game cards (not GKC) cost some $17 to manufacture. I may be overeretimating the fees by 5% give or take, but the short of it is that it's a big difference from digital.

Another digital advantage publishers love is the inability of the customer to trade or borrow games.

I think Sony will try to oversell their digital ratios to publishers, and at the same time reassure their players that they will continue to support physical.

I just remember someone quoting some sole analyst out of Japan that didn't cite any sources. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 50% of revenue being kept on physical game sales and 30% on digital. That would make sense, due to a $5 packaging/shipping cost, the same 30% cut that Sony/Nintendo/MS take and the brick & mortar store taking $10-15 for themselves. 

twintail said:

Will you then choose to discount physical games being sold at sale or bargain prices just because they aren't the full $70 anymore? What happens to digital games that go on sale? it makes no sense to exclude cheap indie games just because they don't meet a certain price threshold.

That said, the latest version of this data: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/er/pdf/25q3_supplement.pdf

shows that physical sale revenue and ratio distribution in Q2 and Q3 being improved over Q1. 

No, I'm discounting indie games because they get extremely limited physical releases. And I'm discounting older games that can no longer be bought as physical due to nobody doing a reprint. Also though, I do see the recovery you are talking about. The average of all the quarters listed in your link is 76.3% digital download vs 23.7% physical. And that would make sense considering how many games are offered as digital-only. 

Conina said:
Cerebralbore101 said:

From Sony's Q1 2025 report. Found here: https://www.sony.com/ja/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/er/pdf/25q1_supplement.pdf

"10 Full game software digital download ratio is calculated by dividing PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®5 full game software units sold via digital
transactions by total full game software units."

In other words, every indie game that has no physical release and is sold for $5 to $15 counts the same as a full fledged $70 game release. And PS4 games that have no new physical copies (because the system is last gen) also count towards their "83% download ratio." In fact, any PS5 game too old to be on store shelves anymore as a brand new copy will be counted for this as well. 

This is just another example of how companies purposefully hamstring physical sales to make it look like consumers are "choosing" digital. 

Well, if the number of game units is too fuzzy for you, take a look at the revenue (in millions of yen) of physical game software compared with the total game software.

  • FY16: 185,287 / 710,970 = 26.1 % physical revenue
  • FY17: 157,897 / 920,117 = 17.2 % physical revenue
  • FY18: 191,513 / 1,293,744 = 14.8 % physical revenue
  • FY19: 116,473 / 1,126,769 = 10.3 % physical revenue
  • FY20: 137,932 / 1,592,586 = 8.6 % physical revenue
  • FY21: 128,917 / 1,553,377 = 8.3 % physical revenue
  • FY22: 193,439 / 1,716,484 = 11.3 % physical revenue
  • FY23: 180,250 / 2,220,193 = 8.1 % physical revenue
  • FY24: 121,159 / 2,508,083 = 4.8 % physical revenue
  • FY25: ~130,000 / ~2,600,000 = ~5.0 % physical revenue

So even with a choice of physical for most AAA titles, the share of physical game revenue has come down from 26 % to 5 % within the last 10 years. Even most PlayStation users who prefer physical discs obviously have no problem to buy digital only software and/or digital add-on content. Or pay for a (100 % digital) PS Plus subscription to "rent" some games and play online.

And if we include the 100 % digital PS Plus revenue (network services), the physical revenue share is even lower:

  • FY16: 185,287 / 900,211 = 20.6 % physical revenue
  • FY17: 157,897 / 1,191,089 = 13.3 % physical revenue
  • FY18: 191,513 / 1,620,269 = 11.8 % physical revenue
  • FY19: 116,473 / 1,464,034 = 8.0 % physical revenue
  • FY20: 137,932 / 1,975,536 = 7.0 % physical revenue
  • FY21: 128,917 / 1,962,732 = 6.6 % physical revenue
  • FY22: 193,439 / 2,181,160 = 8.9 % physical revenue
  • FY23: 180,250 / 2,765,730 = 6.5 % physical revenue
  • FY24: 121,159 / 3,177,956 = 3.8 % physical revenue
  • FY25: ~130,000 / ~3,350,000 = ~3.9 % physical revenue

If Sony should decide to fade out physical PS5 game releases and ditch the disc drive support for the PS6... what would happen?

  • Would most of the PlayStation gamers who prefer physical games quit their hobby? Very doubtful!
  • Would they switch to the PC platform with higher hardware costs and almost 100% digital? Only a few of them.
  • Would they switch to the next Xbox, which probably has no disc drive support? Ha ha ha!
  • Would they switch to Switch 2 where the "physical option" of most AAA releases are game key cards with almost all restrictions of digital games? Probably not due to the big gap of graphics fidelity.
  • Would they switch to iOS/Android mobile games? No chance!

So most PlayStation gamers who prefer physical games (but nevertheless already bought digital-only games and/or digital add-on content) wouldn't change platforms or quit buying PlayStation games, especially if their friends don't switch platforms with them.

At first I was confused as to why you would include DLC but then quickly realized that Sony counts DLC and Full Digital games seperately. So that revenue report is actually fairly used. Not sure why you would bother to count PSN revenue for this comparison, but it doesn't matter as your tables provided paint a bleak picture already. Physical is somehow becoming a speck of revenue, even when you account for DLC and Microtransactions. 

  • Would most of the PlayStation gamers who prefer physical games quit their hobby?

       No, because for most people who prefer physical, buying an Indie digital game is fine. As for AAA games, people have very large backlogs. They would likely either stop buying AAA games altogether or drastically reduce how much they buy of AAA titles. 

  • Would they switch to the PC platform with higher hardware costs and almost 100% digital?

       That would be the smarter move if you wanted to enjoy AAA games. 

  • Would they switch to the next Xbox, which probably has no disc drive support? Ha ha ha!

        Not sure why you are asking twice if they would switch to PC? Next Xbox is just a PC with an Xbox sticker. 

  • Would they switch to Switch 2 where the "physical option" of most AAA releases are game key cards with almost all restrictions of digital games?

       That's actually a very good possibility. Switch 1 had an amazing library of games, even if you only counted Indies and Nintendo-developed titles. The GKC situation has reduced my Switch 2 collecting but there's still plenty of games that are not GKC. I already have 10 and plan on getting Indiana Jones soon. And Switch 2 isn't even a year old yet. Add in some nice digital indies (which I don't mind buying at all) and Switch 2 will be fine. 

So most PlayStation gamers who prefer physical games (but nevertheless already bought digital-only games and/or digital add-on content) wouldn't change platforms or quit buying PlayStation games, especially if their friends don't switch platforms with them.

I disagree. A good poll would be needed for it for sure. You would have to poll people from the following communities: Doesitplay, ForeverPhysical, LimitedRunGames. And you would have to phrase the question that avoids the fact that many people who normally prefer physical have no issue buying digital indie games. Otherwise people would still answer: "Yes I'll still buy games", when what they really mean is "Yes I'll still buy Indie games".

But anyway, I see your point about how physical revenue has shrunk to almost nothing (even when you account for DLC/MTX). I'm just glad that I can still buy physical games and will continue to do so until they are gone. 

Last edited by Cerebralbore101 - 2 days ago