The launch of next-gen consoles has led to a massive spike in digital game sales.
It would seem the growing trend towards digital downloadable games has gotten a big push thanks to the launch of next-gen consoles as well as all of the recent holiday game releases.
According to industry tracking firm SuperData Research, the games industry generated a whopping $1.06 billion in digital sales alone during the month of November. That figure factors in purchases of mobile games, online PC games, and MMO expansions and subscriptions for games such as World of Warcraft. The rise in sales marks a 25% increase over sales generated in November, 2012 and SuperData believes that the extensive digital libraries of both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are a large contributor to the spike in digital sales.
Virtually every game that launched with the next-gen consoles, including major hits such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, was available as both a retail and digital purchase. Judging from SuperData’s figures, it looks like a healthy amount of next-gen gamers chose the digital route when building up their new console’s library.
Whether or not digital sales will continue to rise is anybody’s guess but, for now at least, it looks like the trend of purchasing and downloading games right from the convenience of your couch isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
