Console Gaming : An analysis of how digital sales can be increased from both an industry and consumer perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to research how digital sales of video games in the designated console industry could be improved. The industry is highly dependent on technology which is why it’s conflicting that the digital distribution is behind in sales when compared to similar industries. As such, the question of the research was defined as “why do the digital sales lag behind the sales of physical copies of games?”.

It was decided that quantitative research would be the optimal way to to gather data. Online questionnaire was chosen as the primary source for data and as secondary source interviews were conducted with 2 people who are acquainted consumers of the industry, as well as various literature sources, articles and previously conducted research were used. The questionnaire resulted in 92 responses that helped to map out and analyze the consumer views about the industry.

The research revealed that there’s genuine concern about online safety, hardware restrictions, value creation and price when it comes to buying video games in a digital form. The physical copies were thought to have more value as they could be resold, loaned to friends or returned to the store for discounts on other games. The physical copies were also thought to have more flexibility to when it comes to pricing and discounts. In general, the digital distribution of video games was thought to be more appealing because of it’s ease of use, comfortability and availability of games and most respondents predicted that the digital distribution would be the dominating channel for selling games in the future.