Despite digital distribution, most video gamers still buying at retail

Interpret LLC, an entertainment, media and technology market research firm, today released a report, "The Rise of Social Commerce," which found that not only do 80 percent of gamers not purchase games digitally, but the 20 percent that do also purchase more games at retail than their non-downloading counterparts.

The data shows that, from Q1 2009 to the same period in 2010, digital distribution grew moderately on both "core" PC platforms (e.g. Valve's Steam, Direct2Drive, publisher websites) and consoles (Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network Store, WiiWare), while simultaneously decreasing significantly on "casual" PC platforms (major casual game portal sites) as casual gamers abandoned those destinations in favor of social (Facebook) and mobile gaming.

Anxieties over the potential of digital distribution to rapidly disrupt the retail ecosystem may be unfounded. The 20 percent of the game-playing population that digitally downloads games also purchases 2.7 games, on average, every 6 months at retail locations — 20 percent more retail purchases than those who never buy digitally.

"It is critical that both the publishing and retail sides of the game industry avoid overreacting to a vision of rapid transition to digital distribution that fails to reflect reality," said Brenton Lyle, managing strategist, Interpret LLC. "Whether or not all game sales are digital in ten years, right now the virtues of the retail environment, including convenience, trained sales staff and the opportunity to encourage impulse buys, are as important as ever."