It seems like games designed for a completely digital futurebut even though gamers overwhelmingly buy games digitally, they still seem to choose consoles with disc drives over consoles without them. According to the latest data on the current state of the console race, the digital-only PlayStation 5 seems to be the least popular device of this generation.
On Wednesday, market research firm Circana released lifetime sales breakdowns for regular PS5s and those without drives, as well as Xbox Series X and S. “Xbox Series X consoles accounted for 58% of all Xbox Series consoles sold in September and represent the majority of Xbox consoles Series was sold from start to finish (51%)” – industry analyst and Circana executive Mat Piscatella wrote on Bluesky. “40% of total PlayStation 5 device sales in September came from PS5 digital consoles. Digital consoles currently account for 18% of total unit sales of PS5 hardware to date.
Sony’s latest PS5 sales reports for August indicated that a total of 61.7 million units were sold. This means that approximately 50.6 million of them are disk-capable models, and only 11.1 are fully digital models. Microsoft doesn’t release official Xbox sales figures, but it does provide data Interview Aldora said Wall Street Journal last month, it was estimated that around 28.3 million Xbox Series X and S consoles had been sold so far, which is consistent with other reports that PS5 sales outnumber them roughly two to one. Using Circana’s percentages, that’s roughly 13.9 million all-digital Series S consoles and 14.4 million Series X. With a slight difference, both are still more widespread than the diskless PS5.
Why this way? One reason could be that unlike the Series S, which usually costs only $300 and often sells for much less, the PS5 digital console started at $400 and actually went up in price augment to $450 when a recent, slim model replaced the premiere edition. The console is even more exorbitant in Japan, where Sony recently raised the price even further. Sold separately, the optical drive costs $80, making it more exorbitant than the $500 PS5 with a disk drive already installed for anyone who chooses to upgrade later.
Another reason could be that while most gamers buy games digitally, many of them still physically own older PS4 generation games or want to be able to utilize their PS5 to watch Blu-rays. Even if they never actually insert a disc into their console, the habit of doing so in the past may lead gamers to choose consoles with disc drives, at least for now. It’s also worth noting that some games, especially Sony’s own hits, like God of War Ragnaroksold more copies physically than digitally.
Perhaps this proves that even if gamers continue to choose the convenience of digital downloads, they will still pursue the dream of physical gaming by opting for consoles with disc drives. Based on the numbers above, the all-digital PS5 and Series S consoles combined make up just 27 percent of the current install base of high-end consoles, and we’re already approaching the end of this generation’s four-year lifespan. Then again, perhaps the data is just a lagging indicator showing the last gasp of ancient gaming habits, rather than lasting preferences. That’s certainly the story the gaming section at your local huge box store will tell you.
There is already concern that both Sony and Microsoft may move to all-digital consoles Just option at some point in the future. Some analysts predicted that Microsoft would make this leap with its next console, while Sony has another generation to go. Meanwhile, physical games make up a smaller and smaller share of the market, but still sell tens of millions of copies each year. If at least they exist some die-hard fans by purchasing them, perhaps console manufacturers will have an incentive to continue including disk drive options.
