80% of Capcom's Game Sales are Digital
Already 80% of games with Capcom's logo are purchased digitally. The publisher wants to improve this result, but does not intend to abandon boxes yet.
Capcom has revealed that the digital distribution is already responsible for the sale of 80% of the company's video games. This information was provided during a shareholder meeting convened to discuss the financial results.
Interestingly, Capcom expects even more. The publisher's goal is to make 90% of the sales take place digitally. The company knows that a full transition to digital distribution is not realistic, as some players prefer physical releases, these will not be abandoned.
Capcom stresses that this trend is beneficial for the company. Digital distribution helps to keep sales results high for longer and makes it easier to deliver games to customers in every corner of the world.
The company is nevertheless slightly surprised by the pace of change. Last year, digital copies accounted for 53.3% of the games sold by Capcom. The publisher was forecasting an increase to 75.4% in 2020, with the Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne expansion playing a major role. This expansion proved to be an expected success, and the coronavirus pandemic, which caused players to spend more time at home, helped to exceed the planned results.
The growing importance of digital distribution is a constant trend for the whole industry, but in this respect Capcom is well ahead of the others. In the past financial year (period from April 1 2019 to March 31 2020). 51% of Sony's own games on PlayStation 5 were sold digitally. In the case of Take-Two Interactive it was 55% and Electronic Arts - 49%.
