Market research firm Circana has revealed in a new report that U.S consumer spending on physical video games has more than halved since 2021.

Even more so than film or TV, gaming has migrated heavily to digital due to several factors, including faster online infrastructure, increased online deals, and an industry shift towards live-service titles.

U.S. physical video game software peaked in 2008, with sales just below $12 billion dollars for the year.

That figure had halved by 2014, when revenue dropped to just under $6 billion. In 2024, it was down to under $2 billion – a drop of more than 85% since the 2008 peak.

The news comes as overall content spend (which includes subscriptions and microtransactions) has increased since 2019.

In fact, physical sales would be far worse without Nintendo. Last year’s weaker-than-usual release schedule for the Switch is said to be a major reason why overall physical game sales have dropped.

Nintendo’s reliance on physical games was evident in Europe last year, where the digital ratio for all gaming sales was 68%. By individual console Xbox was at 75%, PS5 at 64%, and Nintendo at just 22%.

Source: VGC

The post Physical Game Sales In U.S. Drop Below $2B appeared first on Dark Horizons.

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