PC game digital downloads making strides

The PC Games Digital Downloads: Analyst Report from leading market research company NPD Group highlights that digital downloads of PC games are reaching parity with retail purchases.

According to the report 21.3 million full games were downloaded digitally compared to 23.5 million physical units purchased at retail in 2009. The same report shows that physical retail sales experienced a year-over-year revenue decline and that PC digital downloads made up almost half of unit sales (at 48%) in 2009 and 36% of dollar sales.

The report has identified the following as the top digital retailers in the PC space:

Top 5 Frontline Digital Retailers –2009 (based on unit % share) 1.      Steampowered.com 2.      Direct2drive.com 3.      Blizzard.com 4.      EA.com 5.      Worldofwarcraft.com   Top 5 Casual Digital Retailers – 2009 (based on unit % share) 1.      Bigfishgames.com 2.      Pogo.com 3.      Gamehouse.com 4.      iWin.com 5.      Realarcade.com