Nintendo's Digital Sales Are Nearly Double The Amount Of The Previous Fiscal Year

It's kind of sad when people trade their freedoms for convenience, but not surprising.
I stick to physical copies as they are often cheaper and leave me with the option to lend or resell as I wish.

With my current backlog of games on my switch at the moment I feel like I may be directly responsible for this surge, lol

@Count_Duckula That's a tad overly dramatic don't you think? I prefer physical as well but many games aren't purchasable via physical release. You're not trading any freedom away for that.

Well there goes physical releases. 🙄

Nothing surprising...considering how they even put digital codes in physical copy of some games now....and digital-only games are released almost on daily basis... Even some big, famous kind of games only get digital only

Digital sales accounted for 37.2% of Nintendo's total software sales during Q1 2019.

That's up from 24.2% compared to Q1 2018.

Won't be long before it reaches the magical 50% ratio. Could happen as soon as Q1 2020 at this rate.

Unless its an indie I always buy the physical copy. Otherwise my 128gb SD card would have been well over full by now.

All digital is this hobby's future.

Embrace it.

I’m used to it on PC so I’m glad. Digital means less boxes taking up space in my house. I prefer physical for certain games but digital is nice too. The other day I was looking at digital code cards they have for games. I wouldn’t be surprised if those became the new form of “physical collecting.”

I hope someday Nintendo lets indies and publishers remove DRM if they wish, like how Steam does. If not, and if something goes wrong with my account, I’ll find a way to remove the DRM itself. People have already made a program for that. Not sure how well it works.

I’m 100% digital on Switch. First time I’ve done that with any console. I don’t ever sell it trade games so that doesn’t factor in for me. Love the convenance of having all my games with my all the time.

That is revenue on sales. Does not mean sales are double.

They only 24.8% of sales (up from 17%). The numbers are inflated by stuff that has nothing to do with "dedicated videogame software sales"

75.2% of sales were not digital

Only 10% of their revenue came from digital, about 5% from mobile.

Digital is growing, but it's still a long way behind.

Every game I have is digital lol

@Count_Duckula I agree that retail is better, but many smaller games simply don't appear as physical editions.

I want my Switch to be the ultimate portable gaming device, so I just ordered a 128gb micro sd card and a 10000mAh power bank when I got it. Because I primarily use it as a portable, it simply makes the most sense to me to have Switch games digital, so I don't have to bother with changing cartridges on the train or bus

I guess introducing a proper account system helped here. Games linked to hardware IDs is a completely silly system.

@Heavyarms55 Not at all. I was referring to the increasing percentage of sales of AA-AAA games that are now made via online distribution means, games that would and do receive physical releases. Clearly 'digital only' releases are part of the trend but not what I was intending to refer to.

Digital only releases specially I'd say are both a blessing and a curse. Blessing in that smaller games that would not otherwise have seen a release can have an audience, curse in that mid tier games that may have otherwise had a physical release may no longer receive one, and for the (likely inevitable) trend they accelerate.

Despite pretty much every piece of physical commercial software coming with a 'licence' that tells us we bought rights to use the software but do not own it, consumers as a whole still have expectations that companies must meet when it comes to physical items.
The reaction to the initial XBone release and Sony's response (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA) is a great example.
With online distribution companies managed to reset those expectations much more to their advantage.

Of course game streaming where consumers trade all control for convenience will probably render this moot soon enough, I'll still choose physical releases for as long as they are an option (or in the case of PC, DRM free releases from GOG etc)

Me personally I have found that purchasing games digitally has been the way to go since I got my Switch, as said above, the convenience makes a big difference. The only physical title I have is Zelda which I bought with the console.

I prefer physical with the following exceptions:

• online games
• games i tend to play often but in small bursts

I prefer physical and will double dip a great game for convenience (in a sale or something). I feel like publishers are trying to make me do it the other way around lol.

@Agramonte
According to Nintendo, "digital sales" automatically includes anything that is downloaded on a Nintendo platform, whether than be games, DLC/season passes, Nintendo Switch Online, microtransactions, etc.

They weren't trying to suggest that their digital sales came solely from game downloads.

Seems like every comment you make this site is simply trying to accuse Nintendo of some clever word-play trickery. It's not that deep; no need to look for a conspiracy in every comment.

I started physical on the switch but shifted to almost completely digital
Aside for certain games that I prefer physical because of different reasons, I buy almost everything digital because it is so convenient and greener

Unless a game on cart has no updates whatsoever (now or in future) aren’t we all pretty much playing digital nowadays?

Yes!!! The All Digital future is coming! I can’t wait! Next system will likely be all digital. That makes me very excited!!!

@westman98 Regardless of what nintendo intended to suggest (or conspiracy or not). Comments here obviously show a misunderstanding of what they mean.

I am one of the digital buyers... I have 10 or 11 phisical Switch games, but I have at least 30 digital games. Digital is more convenient for Switch imho, becouse I have all of my games always with me and I don't have to change cartridges. In the beginning I was buying phisical copies, but then I have to admit that I prefer digital.

i credit the black friday sale they had on the eshop.

just checked the graph again to make sure it was by money earned than titles sold cause there's a few games i've seen go 90+% off repeatedly

Playing physical games these days is like watching movies on VHS when we have Netflix. A backwards attitude stuck in a backwards age. Digital is the future, after all - how many game cartridges do you have for you mobile phone or tablet?

With over 120 paid for games and only roughly 200gb remaining on my second 400gb Micro SD card, I'd say I've firmly cemented myself as a digital user. Beforehand, I had amassed 30 odd physical games but decided to sell them all and move onto digital only but only buy games that have been discounted at least 20% off the asking price. Why did I do this? Well, for me at least, it has enabled me to retain all the games I purchased on tiny memory cards. And not being able to resell them has inevitably led to me going back to old games later and finding a second, third, forth lease of life in many games I would forgotten about due to having prematurely sold the physical copy. No such issue for an impulsive buyer/seller such as myself.

I save $10 on every full-priced $80 game by messing with my country's region on the Switch. That's why I'm digital only.

@Count_Duckula I find it funny how things have changed. There was that huge backlash to the XB1, and yet half (?) of the people who buy a console download.

@westman98 Yep, he's permanently looking for a negative. It's like any of us could write his posts for him they're so predictable.

@Heavyarms55 "That's a tad overly dramatic don't you think? I prefer physical as well but many games aren't purchasable via physical release. You're not trading any freedom away for that."

The upside to this is alot of Digital are becoming Physical as well. So that isn't true anymore. If the game is well received it becomes a Nintendo made Physical version.

@Bass_X0
I still watch DVDs and VHS thank you very much. I don't have to be plugged into the Internet for every single facet of my life. You keep forgetting not everyone can get stable enough connections for streaming services nor play multiplayer games (online anyway) to warrant a subscription.

Im going to guess why that happen DLC theres your answer..

I buy physical when I can, but I've also bought the family membership for NSO & DLC, but I've also bought digital-only Nindie titles. Animal Crossing Switch will also be a day 1 digital purchase for me because a game like that requires it to be always-on my device.

@Bass_X0 well said. I completely agree. Change with the times, or face the fact that you’re turning into your grandparents and refuse change. The digital era is upon us!!!

@Count_Duckula It's kind of sad when people mistake their preferences for factually the best possible way of doing something, but not surprising.

I'll stick to a mixture of the two since Nintendo's games rarely drop in price physically anyway and third party games are old, digitally cheap and I already have physical copies hanging around for other systems. Seeing as I don't buy crap games, I've nothing to sell anyway.

@SwitchForce Available in limited numbers for all of 3 hours. Then sold out! Yay!

Sadly, at this rate it looks like pretty soon it's all digital. It really is inevitable.