PC Game sales are 92% digital

By Sherif Saed

92% of all game sales on PC are through digital distribution, with retail amounting to less than 10%, according to one analyst firm.

According to a statement by analyst firm DFC Intelligence made to PCR Online, digital game sales on PC amounted to 92% of the total sales in 2013. The firm expects the number to grow even further in the coming years.

It’s no wonder we hardly see any of the heavy hitters’ PC SKUs appear on the weekly charts, and it will remain that way until the industry finds a way to track digital sales through Steam, or through the multitude of website that sell PC game keys.

Larger firms like NPD have only recently started tracking digital sales, and even then, only a few publishers are cooperating.

It will be interesting to see if this will change over the next few years, given that Microsoft and Sony are trying their best to cut retail out of the equation by pushing digital sales through their online stores. One would assume that should sale numbers from digital store fronts on PS4 or Xbox One reach similar numbers to those of retail, publishers will be disclosing them more regularly.

Thanks, Videogamer.