Riccitiello: Retail revenues will feel the squeeze

Software sales currently account for around 80 per cent of the games market – that could decline to 50 per cent in the next two years, according to EA boss John Riccitiello.

Presently, we are packaged goods with strong service components,” the exec told Gamasutra. Within a year or so, we’re going to feel more like services enabled by packaged goods.

Services are the nirvana that I’m trying to get to, because I think it’s better for the consumer. There’s more value in the dynamism of a service.”

The rise of both downloadable content, microtransactions and gaming subscriptions will logically take up larger and larger slices of the revenue pie.

Plus, with Microsoft soon introducing full game downloads (a move already cautiously trialled by Sony on both PS3 and PSP) it’s hard to fault Riccitiello’s logic.