GameStop vice president Tony Bartel doesn’t see downloadable glames as a “threat” – especially the full games available on consoles. In an interview with Gamespot, Bartel said that 95 percent of games downloaded on PCs are casual games, while only “about 2 percent of the entire console market is downloaded today.” He also added that the digital sales on consoles are growing at a lesser rate than boxed product.
In short, Bartel is convinced that GameStop can survive this latest publisher-to-consumer fad. Especially if one considers that the vast majority of transactions via Xbox Live or PlayStation Network are things like Horse Armor or map packs, not games.
The thing that has always gotten me about digital distribution is that there still aren’t many valid portability options. Physical is always nice because there’s a possibility that you may want to take it somewhere, or use it as commemoration of your 60 dollar purchase.
[via Kotaku]
