A new report from the market research firm EEDAR presents a new and interesting portrait of the upcoming landscape as far as game sales go, and the idea has some deep implications for the gaming market as we know it. By 2018, according to the EEDAR report, around half of all console gaming sales will be sold by digital download. That means some very big changes to come in how games are marketed, and understanding these changes will likely go a long way in terms of helping game developers come to grips with success in the market.
While 50 percent sounds like a pretty big number in isolation—basically every other game sold will be sold via digital download—the comparative numbers make the picture all the more unusual. Right now—in 2014—the average share of the digital download market is actually under 20 percent. While digital downloads are seeing much bigger growth than sales at brick-and-mortar outlets, digital downloads are still a small slice of the market, though that won't be the case much longer if the EEDAR report comes to pass.
That's the key trigger point right there; the amount of games sold online is poised to better than double. But it's still only going to be about half the market, which means that game makers are going to have to split their collective forces in order to work both sides of the street. While the big city types will be mostly downloading games—owing to the fact that they'll have the bandwidth to get in on the action, for the most part—the small town crew will be focusing on discs, as they're often still waiting for even a decent DSL provider to step in and offer a comparatively slow connection that's still much better than any they've seen before. Naturally, there will be intermingling—some cities have terrible access, while some rural areas can get a pretty nice connection available to them—but we' re still looking at a diffuse environment here.
Consider further the role of game stores; stores like Gamestop and the like that depend on games and game resale numbers will be losing a pretty healthy slug of business as more gamers turn to their Internet connections to get games. But game stores near those places without the proper connection, meanwhile, will likely continue to do well. It's almost like video stores; a bigger city may not actually have one in place, but a small town might still have a couple on hand thanks to the lack of streaming infrastructure.
With the changes in marketing measures, there will also be huge differences in the way companies go after customers—EEDAR projects it will be all about careful targeting and retaining the customer—and the number of big-name games is likely to also decline as costs increase, and the amount of market remains the same.
So it becomes clear that there are a lot of changes in store for how games are not only made, but also marketed. With so much of the market going digital, promotion is going to have to have an increased focus on the download market. But that's going to draw attention from the disc market, and that in turn might cost sales on that front. With fewer, but bigger, games to emerge—not to mention an increased focus on the field in general from the indie game developer market—that's going to shake up the landscape for some time to come. There are bigger changes afoot than anyone can begin to consider, yet begin we must...and then some.
Android (operating system) Bethesda Bethesda Softworks Downloadable content Electronic Arts Electronic sports Facebook Fallout (series) Fallout 3 Fallout: New Vegas Gamer Games Google IOS Maryland Massively multiplayer online game Microsoft Microsoft Windows Mobile game Nintendo Oculus Rift PC game Personal computer PlayStation PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Sony The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim United States Video game Video game console Virtual reality Wii Wii U World of Warcraft Xbox Xbox 360 Xbox Live Xbox One YouTube
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- October 2011
- September 2011
Featured Videos