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1 in 5 UK gamers prefer to download their games
Findings in a recent report presented at the London Gaming Conference last night show that 7% of console - and 14% of PC-gamers prefer to download their games in digital, no-box-or-paper-instruction-booklet format.This isn't as big news as it seems though, as many PC owners also own consoles, and vice-versa -- and I bet there's some cross-over in the demographics.
But, with the recent take-off of digital-only download services like Direct2Drive, Valve's Steam, and Microsoft's LIVE Marketplace, it's no surprise that gamers have been enjoying the lower prices and quicker delivery times inherent to such services. As game developers continue to jump on-board with these services and reap the higher profit margins, we can expect the trend to continue.
As always though, when there's a shift in sales, someone has to lose out -- even if it's not the customer.
In this case it's the real-world shops like EB Games and Game. They've often relied on value-added deals to turn a decent profit -- buy two games, get a third free, that kind of thing -- and with more and more people staying home (really, the number of reasons to leave your home is getting quite low...), I think game stores will soon have to mix things up, or die.
[via Neowin]
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsRyanOct 28th 2009 7:28PM
The main reason I'm starting to move towards digital download via Steam is simply due to the fact I'm running out of physical space to store my games. Steam allows me to backup downloaded games onto my HDD or DVD which is handy, but I don't have a fantastic Internet plan to handle large downloads.
EB Games can die right now, they are a total rip off in Australia. I buy most of my new games from Ebay stores in Hong Kong or Thailand. EB have been selling news games for $80-120 AUD, when I can get them for $40-65 AUD (brand new, sealed) from Ebay.
Sebastian AnthonyOct 28th 2009 7:52PM
Ah, the grey market... gotta love it! Always been a problem for the tech sector, and especially software -- something that is inherently almost-free to make... how much do you charge for it?
Obviously less in Asia where their income is lower than an Australian's... and then just import it. Woo!
I'm with you on the digital downloads too. I only ever look at the packaging once -- as I'm tearing it open. Then I throw the box into a cupboard... until it fills up... and then I throw them all out -- every 2 or 3 years.
JensOct 29th 2009 3:23AM
I prefer buying on steam, I love the digital download, and the lack of a box.
But it's not cheaper, in Denmark, there's a premium for using Steam, compared to buying the box.
Sebastian AnthonyOct 29th 2009 8:48AM
Yea, that's a known issue -- something to do with how the currencies were worked out. Most of the people that have to buy in euros get a bad price (but it does vary from country to country, which is odd!)
It's OK in GBP. It was better when we could buy in dollars... :)
JensOct 29th 2009 11:41AM
US to EUR conversion is 1:1 which is pathetic, the real rate is 1:0,68. And 25% VAT doesn't help.
JamesNov 5th 2009 12:33AM
I love *some* digital download services, but the monopoly services on consoles are a real pain -- Steam has half-off sales to stay competitive, while the MS "deal of the week" is 10% off a 2-year-old game. Bottom line is my first and only metric; console digital-distribution fails by that.