Surprise! PC game boxed sales down, digital up

Sales of boxed PC games in the UK fell by more than 36 per cent, to just over 1m games sold, in 2015.

The latest statistics from GfK Entertainment show that a total of just 21.3m was spent on physical PC games last year in Britain – a drop of more than 28 per cent.

The news will come as little surprise to PC game makers, who have seen the market becoming increasingly dominated by Steam over the last five years.

Indeed, although digital estimates vary greatly depending on which data supplier you speak to, both IHS and SuperData tell MCV that PC digital sales (which includes subscriptions and free-to-play, as well as full downloads) increased by around 30m in the UK last year.