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Digital downloads become majority of PC game sales in US and UK

PC downloads continue to rise thanks to platforms like Steam and Impulse

According to Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC), digital downloads now comprise more than half of all PC games sold in the United States and the United Kingdom. Sony DADC supports the download services of over 25 publishers and retailers, including Electronic Arts.

"In North America and the UK, we've seen a tipping point," said Matt Hatten, who handles digital distribution sales for Sony DADC.

"The majority of sales in those regions are now digital. 51 per cent of all PC game sales were digital eight months ago in the US. Now it's going to be up to a split of nearly 60/40 in the US alone."

"Certainly for the services that Sony DADC provides for digital retailers and publishers, we see [that growth] very much in the PC space at the moment," Sony DADC director of engineering Murray Rigluth told MCV.

GameStop has already moved to add more digital sales with its acquisition of online store Impulse, but Rigluth believes more retailers need to jump on the bandwagon before it's too late.

"We're on a path that's never going to reverse. In six to 12 months there will be huge scramble and rush for digital services. This will fragment the market but in five to six years the numbers will reduce and you'll get more key players."

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Mike Williams avatar

Mike Williams

Reviews Editor, USgamer

M.H. Williams is new to the journalism game, but he's been a gamer since the NES first graced American shores. Third-person action-adventure games are his personal poison: Uncharted, Infamous, and Assassin's Creed just to name a few. If you see him around a convention, he's not hard to spot: Black guy, glasses, and a tie.