Anyone who doubts the transition from physical to digital need only look to EA’s most recent financials for evidence.
Of the $693m revenue generated by EA in the last quarter, $532m came from digital – which is up ten per cent year-on-year.
The bulk of it came from digital mobile sales, in-game microtransactions and subscriptions, or what EA refers to as ‘PC & Other’, which also encompasses Origin PC sales.
The breakdown offered by EA is limited, however. Downloadable games made $84m and DLC $211m, up 18 per cent year-on-year and ‘extra content’ 21 per cent respectively. Mobile was up only two per cent at $122m while subscriptions and ad-supported games fell 11 per cent to $71m.
Whether digital will claim the same chunk in key quarter such as calendar Q4 remains to be seen.
EA’s overall results came in ahead of forecasts.