Nintendo eShop Growth Continues With Massive Increase To Digital Sales

Digital is the way forward and I think people should just embrace it, also we get continual massive discounts on the eshop, there’s literally no need to pay full price for anything.

Well, Covid, Duh!

also for preservation digital is a huge benefit, its much easier to preserve data from an sd card instead of only having proprietary hardware. Nintendo always has been amazing with supporting SD instead of specific nintendo cards (looking at you Sony)

My spending on downloads has been the same. Because I've been all digital on Switch since day one

Heh, as much as I love physical, I just don’t have the space for it so I decided to go all-digital-everything with video games starting with the Switch. We’re moving toward a digital era anyway so I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon.

P.S. speaking of “digital”, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is currently being sold for $39.99 on Amazon (in the US). Just bagged it yesterday because I couldn’t turn that deal down. Don’t know how long it’ll be up though so act fast if you want it... kind of surprised NL didn’t post an article on it. 🤔

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - Switch [Digital Code] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086ZBW3R9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_EAHJ431YA6CG1N7A6PX4?psc=1

That 40% would increase if they had more sales on their heavy hitters.

I get games that I want to share with the kiddos like Capt. Toad, or “special” games physical - Binding of Isaac, Breath of the Wild, Witcher, etc.

Games that I know I’ll replay tons like Diablo, Monster Hunter, or Animal Crossing I go Digital, and I also buy a ton of indies.

I concur with an above poster, Switch 2.0 or Pro needs to have a dual SD car slot. My 400gb is full, and I have loads of stuff in the cloud still. I need at least 1tb if not 2tb, and a single 1tb card is still nearly the cost of the system itself.

Personally I will remain primarily physical until the digital prices come down. I will never understand why digital games are more expensive than their physical counterparts, I'll forsake convenience for getting £10+ off any day!

@The_New_Butler,

Can't see how I would ever fill a 1tb card, and the decent 400gb cards are pretty cheap these days.

I’ve not bought a single retail game digitally on switch. Prices are ridiculous on the eshop for first party, even with their sales.

@jamesRainbowBoy I’m pretty sure the digital prices are the same due to pressure from brick and mortar retailers. Retailers would refuse to stock the games or hardware and waste shelf space if digital prices were significantly less on release as very few would buy physical, resulting in less store footfall, less sales and wasted shelf space. This may not be an issue in future once digital accounts for a significant majority of sales, companies could ditch physical altogether and simply distribute their hardware online, but currently brick and mortar sales/marketing is necessary.

@AndyC_MK Yeah, and I do love physical carts, but sometimes it just made more sense to me to have it digital, plus the wife buys me eshop cards instead of games so I can just pick what I want lol. And like I said, I have a LOOOT of indies. I have over 400+ games on Switch easy. And then there’s card eaters like Civ 6 plus expansions, which takes up like 30gbs by itself. It started at like 6-7gb before patches and dlc....

I predict that digital sales will tail off now as the world continues to open up.
I for one bought several games digitally during the lockdowns that I wouldn't have normally but that doesn't mean that my habits have changed for good.
The resale value alone means that physical will always make more sense, even if you're not a collector or that fussed about actually holding something you paid £50 for in your hands.

@The_New_Butler,

I was thinking more on the lines of Nintendo first party stuff, which is what I use my Switch for, and the odd indie title here and there, those file sizes tend to be more manageable, but like you said get two cards.

@AndyC_MK ,

I tend to buy physical for the most part, just like the cheaper price and you can sell the game if you get sick of it, and of course with the evergreen nature of Nintendo first party stuff you always get a good resale price.

@HamatoYoshi i also dont pay full price for (new) physical games. I like to lend my games to friends and/or family, you cant do that with digital. Also physical is ofter more available for cheaper and you can sell them if needed.

@ferryb001
The people who defended the PS Vita completely forgot about the issue of having to use proprietary memory cards. It's a great console, but it just doesn't live up to the Switch in any way besides exclusives and streaming PS4 games.

As last year's biggest seller, Animal Crossing will be a factor in this - it has a reputation for being most convenient in download form.

Ok, before I sold my Switch, the price of AAA games was always $15-$20 cheaper at the local department store. I doubt that has changed much.

The only games I bought digitally were a few indie games which weren't so overpriced 👍

My spending on downloads has remained reasonably steady from late 2012 onward. It's pretty much the norm for me. I even back up alot of my downloads incase my primary drive/SD card fails.

I have 10 physical games on Wii U from a collection of around 120. 2 of the discs came packed with the console and another 5 were bargain bin buys just before the Switch released. On Switch, I have just 6 physical from a collection of 300, half of those were birthday gifts. I had a fair amount of Wii Shop games too.

I appreciate the convenience of digital and can't imagine going back.

Switch is the first console where I don't have a single physical game. That is in part due to my kids, because they destroy everything they get their hands on but it's still new for me not to have a single physical game on a system I regularly play.

Moved to digital this gen. On my 3rd 1 TB SD card. Scary how many interesting games on Switch vs previous gens. The sheer volume of games is an amazing development vs previous Nintendo platforms. Working my way through them, will last years though.

Thank heaven for the 1Tb SD card I got recently as a present!

I'm surprised the proportion isn't more than 40% to be honest.

I have a few physical copies but 90% of my games are downloaded.

@HamatoYoshi if someone somewhere could promise me that the servers and what not for the games I purchase digitally would be up and running for a lifetime I would buy into the idea for "all digital". While I'm about 75% physical and 25% digital, the worry of losing those digital games or servers going down is something I always consider.

No, actually. I got physical more than I usually do last year. I only got 1 switch game last year, that being Age Of Calamity. And I wanted it physical so...

@TDRsuperstar2 even with carts, there is the danger of losing eventual patches and updates.

@TDRsuperstar2 I have the same concern. I buy all of the major Nintendo games physical. The minor ones, like The Stretchers and Good Job! tend to be digital only. Indie games I am split on. I prefer physical but, many times, the physical copy is at least twice the regular digital price. So, I often buy the digital when it goes on sale. Hollow Knight is a prime example: the physical copy sells for $35 at Best Buy; I bought the digital version on sale for $10.

@rockodoodle true but at that point I could potentially resell a physical game.. there's pros and cons to each which is why I tend to keep a balance of both. Some I double dip too

@Gamer_Griff Yeah some games I double dip but for the most part I will try to get the game physical if I can. If it's a collectors edition of an indie I'm usually on board haha but some are digital only. I'm happy with the mix!

@TDRsuperstar2 The servers being up shouldn't be a worry, but it's the licensing server that's an issue. Nintendo lets you back up your games on PC just by copying it, so downloading again isn't necessary if backing up manually. But those downloads are locked to a single physical hardware unit, so if you replace the Switch you need the licensing server to approve the games that aren't locally approved on a primary Switch. For Playstation, you really can't copy the games to more than one drive, but you can download the game fully onto multiple different drives if you connect one at a time. It's worse than Nintendo, but it works. For MS you can copy to your hearts content from the console, but you still need to hit the licensing server if you're using it on a different hardware unit. For MS that's not a worry. Licensing servers are what they do, and they're still running the ones for WinXP along with Win10. They keep backward compatibility of things as a default, so as long as new product exists, old product will likely work. But none of the 3 are impervious there.

Let's see, what are my current habits? I prefer to get evergreen titles physically as they have good trade value when I get tired of it since I'm not a collector-- If it's a AAA 1st party title, physical will likely be my best chance to get it at a REAL sale price (glares at eShop Nintendo 1st party sales). Indies, physical or not, have next to no trade value so I just wait for a sale and buy digitally. Once I'm able to do Gamefly again, I will go back to cruising through physical title after physical title, 1st party, 3rd party, or indie, but for now this is my own game plan...

I need sandisk to make a breakthrough on those 2tb cards. For now though I will be buying another 1tb on BF.

It would be interesting to know how much of that is because of trends and how much is due to ever increasing digital only releases.

@HamatoYoshi Digital is a fantastic option, and should always be an alternative.

I feel like just as there is room enough for streaming services, CDs/blurays, and cinema/concerts for movies and music, there is room enough for streaming, digital, and physical for games.

I'm making the most of physical while it's still around.

While I have no problems buying digital, physical will be my go-to option if possible. I mean, recently I got a physical copy of Sonic Mania Plus (the one that came with the cardboard sleeve and artbook), that's a Switch game I don't see on shelves anymore, not even the non-Plus version.
I could've downloaded it as well as the Plus update and Encore Mode DLC, but having everything on the cart is a huge convenience for me when it comes to memory space.

Another example, I want to get Snipperclips, but since there's a physical version of that game (and I assume that, just like Sonic Mania Plus, everything is on the cart) I want to see if I can get that instead.

I probably would get more digital games if SD cards and hard drives were a little more cheaper around my area.

@AchievingGamer

Can't deny Covid was a factor for a while though.

(wishes to understand this "Covid")

I buy mostly digital since I’m used to that from my pc. Steam is so convenient. There’s a reason no one buys game discs on pc anymore and i feel the industry will go that way slowly for consoles, excluding maybe collectors.

For the Switch- I buy physical if I know a game file is very large.

Digital is great- it's how I have been able to experience Dragon Quest games on IOS (I have an Ipad), been able to download a lot of classic games to my 3DS, and already have a few collection classic games on my Switch Lite.

I just wish we had more retro collections- retro game prices are absurd right now.

One day with my physical cartridges, I want to create an emulation library.

I spend as little as possible on downloads; apart from the occasional sales offer, downloading is generally poor value for money.

It would be interesting to see the how much profit Nintendo generated from the physical compared to digital games.

I believe all gaming, movies, music etc. will go digital in the near future.

Physical is generally cheaper at Walmart and on Ebay.

@Slowdive you can however transfer the data to a external device through a third medium, this also opens the potential for preservation through emulation when all the other options are gone. And don’t forget when Nintendo inevitably releases a new system that doesn’t support switch cartridges but does allow to redownload certain games through the new eshop or take them directly to another system through the micro sd. I see the addition (micro) sd on wii systems amd further on as an amazing feature that should not be overlooked.

Edit: I mean, the switches architecture allows for upgrades quite easily, almost like a smartphone. But at some point the switch cartridges might reach the end of their potential. Digital makes the switch to a system that drops back compat for the cartridges a lot less painful for gamers. Those who bought the physical can then still play those games the way they were intended on switch. the digital plebs like me can play them on the newer hardware

@AchievingGamer

"If you don't understand now, you never will."

(senses an helpful response to a serious query of mine)

@HamatoYoshi "Digital is the way forward and I think people should just embrace it, also we get continual massive discounts on the eshop, there’s literally no need to pay full price for anything."

I wait for sales for most things. But the big AAA Nintendo games don't go on sale for years. Do you really want to wait until 2023 to play "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" or "Monster Hunter Rise"?

@The_New_Butler "Any Switch revision should have 2 SD card slots to support more space at a much lower price point.
The 1tb card is pricey!!!"

They're getting cheaper though. When I bought my Switch I researched, and found sites that said 128GB would be plenty. Filled that up quick and got a 512GB because it was the biggest that existed, skip ahead and I get those damn flashing "X"s when it's full, and had to import a 1TB because Canada doesn't have them available anywhere. Will I eventually need a 2TB? We shall see!

Actually that's pretty bad 40%!!!
Simply look at how much content there is on download
Not all games to cartridge there is probably about 70 to 80% that don't go to cartridge
So that means 60% are on cartridge
And that means download only games just are not doing good at all!.

Been going completely digital only on Switch & PS4 from jump.

Just makes things easier or more sense/cent$ for portability, system changes, efficiency, distribution, saving storage space, satisfying supply/demand, access, less hassle, fiscally etc... Also seeing as so many physical games still take up chunks of space on the system anyways or require installs... In addition physical games are subject to wear & tear over time... And since the trade-in market is usually so consumer unfriendly anyways, that's less of an incentive to go physical now as well... Plus I usually don't trade games regardless, I buy games to keep them, not to use as barter tools later... Not to mention the days of occasionally borrowing & lending games with friends & family as I did in my youth are long gone...

... So yea digital it is for me now.

I have a mix of both though I lean towards digital because the sheer amount of sales. Though it's whatever is cheaper simple as that really 1st parties it's almost always better to have physical because they almost never go on sale (with good reason of course)