As consumers increasingly switch to digital
- by Sammy Barker
We don’t mean to flog a horse while it’s already down, but astounding data coming out of the UK reveals that two retro TimeSplitters titles – released as part of PS Plus Premium but also sold separately on PS5 and PS4 – outperformed tentpole first-party title Concord. Of course, we know the Firewalk Studios debut didn’t do particularly well – estimates put it at around 25k copies sold worldwide – and it was eventually pulled from sale on 3rd September as a consequence. For clarity, this data only accounts for a couple of days of the first-person shooter’s sales, although it was available a little earlier for those who plumped up for the Deluxe Edition.
Nevertheless, it was the 261st best-selling game in the UK during the tracked August period, which spans both digital and physical data. What makes this truly astonishing is that the emulated versions of TimeSplitters 2 (218) and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (229) both did better. Only the original TimeSplitters (326) performed worse. That really puts things into perspective.
It was generally a weak month for the UK games industry, with the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5 and old Borderlands titles dominating, after various promotions were deployed alongside the movie. (Which also flopped, by the way.)
PS5 hardware sales in particular struggled, down 57% year-over-year – although it was, once again, the best-selling system in the country. Sony ran some price promotions around the same time in 2023, however it’s clear that the extremely high price of the platform is starting to cause the company some headaches, and impeding the rate at which its install base is growing. Unless the Japanese giant can get the price down, expect to see more and more year-over-year declines.
One other tidbit worth noting is that an enormous 75% of the games sold in the UK this August were purchased digitally. That’s an enormous swing, up 10% year-over-year, and it helps demonstrate why companies like Sony are starting to ship systems like the PS5 Pro without a disc drive – although you can still attach an optional one if you prefer physical media.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.
