Those winds of change are blowing and for the first time Capcom expects digital sales to surpass physical units, with the company predicting that the European market will collapse altogether.
Last fiscal ending March 31st, 2015 saw 8 million packaged sales and 5 million digital downloads. By March 31st, 2016 they believe it will switch with 6 million in packaged sales and 8 million digital.
President and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto says this is an irreversible move and it’s accelerating even more outside Capcom’s home of Japan. Part of their strategy moving forward will be working even closer with Steam on PC, as they’re after those long-tail sales many titles enjoy.
1.3 million physicals sales took place in Europe last fiscal, with this period expected at just 300k. Overall Capcom believes to scrap in 6 million physical unit sales. ¥26 billion will be earned from packaged sales, with ¥22.5 billion overall when combing digital, mobile and online PC.
