Full game downloads to account for 50 percent of console sales by 2019
Full-game downloads will account for up to half of video game sales by 2019 according to analyst Michael Pachter.
This console generation has seen downloadable add-ons and full games snapped up as fast as retail copies prompting the Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst to predict that virtual copies of games will account for half of console game sales by 2019.
But console owners needn’t fear a hard drive bursting at its plastic seams as we won’t see that happen until consoles have at least one terabyte of storage.
“In ten years, we envision a world where the typical console has a terabyte or more of storage, and where full game downloads are the norm,” the report says.
The report cites Xbox 360 exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV episodes The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony as a sign of things to come.
“We think that the poster child for this scenario is Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox 360, a game first sold in physical form, with additional levels sold periodically thereafter through downloads.”
The firm however still believes that physical copies will still take precedence for the next yen years, illustrated by Take-Two’s eventual decision to bung the first and second GTA episodes on a disc.
“This model reinforces our belief that packaged goods will capture the majority of game purchases for the next ten years.”
So it’ll be a while yet before consoles start going all PSP go on us.
Via [VG247]
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