US Physical Game Sales Are at its Lowest in More Than Two Decades

On Jan. 25, video game analyst Mat Piscatella uploaded on his Bluesky account a graph that paints the whole picture of US physical video game sales for the last 24 years.

The presented data shows that spending on physical video game software peaked in 2008 but has been declining since then, with 2024 not even reaching half of the numbers that were produced in 2008.

Mat clarified that the numbers on the left were billions, as it was cut from the screenshot. The decline in numbers shows how the industry is changing and is more open to embracing digital copies as the new way to buy games. 2024 is the first year recorded in this graph where spending hasn’t reached $2 billion on physical games.

While the numbers seem bleak, Matt highlights the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch 2 in his post with a reason. Nintendo, unlike Microsoft and Sony, has been the only big company that doesn’t offer a subscription to play their latest games. Nintendo Switch Online, the company’s subscription plan, only allows players the ability to play retro games on the Switch but there’s nothing concerning their recent releases. The closest to this would be their offering of game vouchers, which can be purchased for $99.98 on top of the money customers are already paying for the subscription.

However, the selection for game voucher-eligible games is limited compared to what Sony’s PS Plus and Microsoft’s Game Pass are offering.

Nintendo announced the Switch 2 on Jan. 17. The Switch 2 features a new set of joy-cons, a larger screen, and a new dock that comes with it.

According to Statista, 70% of Sony’s gaming sales during the second quarter of 2024 came from digital software sales of the PlayStation games. Microsoft, on the other hand, has not released any numbers regarding this.