1,000 professionals were recently surveyed at the London Games Conference. Over 57 per cent believe digital sales will overtake retail sales.
The question was simple: in which year will digital sales overtake boxed products? While only 3 per cent believe it will happen this year (well, it won’t), the numbers escalate quickly. The full breakdown:
· 2011 3%
· 2012 13%
· 2013 23%
· 2014 18%
· 2015 19%
· 2016 8%
· 2017 1%
· 2018 7%
· 2019 1%
· 2020 4%
· 2025 3%
With the early success of OnLive and the continued push by the big publishers to get on board the digital revolution, we believe that 2015 prediction is a fair one.
And while we hate to kick a man while he’s down. Nintendo, you might want to fix that eShop soon.
It certainly makes sense on several levels, though things like bandwidth limits, hard drive limits and resale value are obstacles that will have to be overcome by then, but being able to get the game without leaving your house and the savings to the manufacturers should help.