Digital killed the gaming disc star
Sony also revealed that nearly 63 percent of its "full game" sales for the 2020 calendar year came via digital downloads rather than games sold on discs at retail. That's a significant increase from digital sales' 43 percent share in Sony's 2018 fiscal year (ending March 2019) and the 55 percent share in fiscal year 2019 (ending March 2020). The increase mirrors a longstanding trend away from disc-based games
around the
industry, and it's a trend that may only accelerate now that
roughly one-quarter of all PS5 systems don't even have a disc drive, based on early hardware allocations.
Sony's gaming division also apparently continues to benefit from the effects of the global pandemic, the company said. "Thanks to continued stay-at-home demand and the launch of the PS5, we have achieved a very high level of user engagement," the company said. "Total PlayStation user gameplay time in December was approximately 30% higher than the same month of the previous fiscal year."
Demand for the aging PlayStation 4 was down to just 1.4 million units for the holiday quarter, compared to a full 6 million a year ago. That console has now sold a total of 114.9 million units worldwide, ahead of the original PlayStation but still well short of the 155 million units shifted for the PS2.
Microsoft has not disclosed unit sales for the Xbox Series X/S but said in
an earnings report last week that Xbox hardware revenue increased 86 percent year over year for the holiday quarter.