G2A Survey Finds Physical Games Still Matter to Players in an Increasingly Digital Market

The games industry might be steadily moving towards digital distribution, but a new survey suggests that plenty of players aren’t ready to leave physical games behind.

A new survey conducted by G2A.COM asked more than 2,000 of its marketplace users about their purchasing preferences for major AAA releases, using Grand Theft Auto VI as an example. Despite the increasingly digital nature of the industry, the results revealed an almost perfect split between the two formats.

According to the survey, 38% of respondents would prefer to purchase a major release digitally, while 37% would choose a physical disc. The remaining 25% either had no preference or did not intend to purchase the game.

Perhaps more interesting than which format narrowly came out on top is just how important having the choice appears to be.

G2A reports that 47% of respondents would be less likely to purchase a full-priced AAA game at launch if only one purchasing format was available.

That preference isn’t necessarily just about having a box sitting on a shelf either.

The ability to resell, trade or lend games was identified as a factor that could influence the purchasing decisions of 69% of respondents. Physical releases also continue to have appeal as collectable items, with 59% saying extras such as steelbooks or art books could influence their decision.

Game preservation was another significant concern.

According to the survey, 77% of respondents expressed some degree of concern about the long-term preservation of games as the market becomes increasingly digital, with 58% describing themselves as very concerned.

Those numbers are particularly notable given the audience being surveyed. G2A says 70% of respondents primarily play games on PC, where digital distribution has effectively been the default for years.

That doesn’t mean players expect physical media to remain unchanged forever.

When asked about the future of the format, 34% predicted that physical games would primarily become a niche aimed at collectors within the next five years, while 23% expected physical discs to be almost entirely phased out for new releases.

Taken together, the results paint a more complicated picture than a straightforward battle between physical and digital games.

Digital distribution undoubtedly offers convenience, and for PC players in particular it has long since become the norm. At the same time, physical media continues to offer things digital purchases generally cannot replicate: the ability to lend or resell a copy, tangible collectability and, depending on how a particular release is implemented, another avenue for preserving access to a game.

There is also an important limitation to keep in mind when interpreting the results. This wasn’t a survey of gamers generally, but of more than 2,000 G2A marketplace users. Its heavily PC-focused sample means the percentages shouldn’t automatically be treated as representative of the entire gaming population.

Even so, the near-even 38%-to-37% split is an interesting result from an audience already heavily accustomed to buying games digitally.

Rather than showing that players universally want one format to replace the other, the survey suggests something considerably simpler: many still want the option to decide for themselves.