Digital downloads more popular than boxed sales in US
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
American analysts NPD have released a report showing that digital sales for PC games have outstripped retail for the first half of 2010.
As reported by MCV , Steam holds the lion's share of digital downloads, with Direct2Drive, EA.com, WorldofWarcraft.com and Blizzard.com pulling up the rear. According to NPD there were three million more digital downloads than boxed copies sold in the first half of the year, with 8.2 million PC games being sold in shops. Digital downloads seem to be cheaper, too, with boxed copies still accounting for 57% of total revenue.
I dimly remember a time, long ago, when I used to buy games in shops. There were other people there, and loud music, and rows and rows of games, and I could never find what I wanted. A part of me slightly misses those big old boxes with their hefty, impenetrable manuals. But what about you? Do you buy your games at retail, or online? Let us know in the comments.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.


