74% of US gamers prefer physical to digital

The disc could yet have some life left in it.

Despite plummeting physical game sales in the UK, NPD reckons that US gamers still much prefer to purchase their games in a box.

When price is equal 74 per cent of those who on console or PC play five or more hours a week say they prefer to buy physical over digital. There are signs of change, however – last year 21 per cent preferred digital, so there is a slight trend away from boxed.

NPD also says there are 34m ‘core’ gamers in the US who spend 22+ hours gaming per week.

"Core gamers are really the lifeblood of the industry, spending tremendous amounts of time on their hobby of choice," NPD analyst Liam Callahan stated. "With the new console generation off to a great start, we can expect the amount of time spent gaming to increase as more core gamers adopt them."