The all-digital PS5 console may be the least popular console of all

It looks like games designed for a very digital futurebut although gamers overwhelmingly buy games digitally, they still seem to decide on consoles with disc drives over consoles without them. According to the latest data on the current state of the console race, the digital-only PlayStation 5 seems to be the least popular device of this generation.

On Wednesday, market research firm Circana released lifetime sales breakdowns for normal PS5s and people without drives, in addition to Xbox Series X and S. “Xbox Series X consoles accounted for 58% of all Xbox Series consoles sold in September and represent the majority of Xbox consoles Series was sold end-to-end (51%)” – Industry Analyst and Circana Executive Director Mat Piscatella wrote on Bluesky. “40% of total PlayStation 5 device sales in September got here from PS5 digital consoles. Digital consoles currently account for 18% of total unit sales of PS5 hardware to this point.

Sony’s latest PS5 sales reports for August indicated that a complete of 61.7 million units were sold. This signifies that roughly 50.6 million of them are disk-capable models, and only 11.1 are fully digital models. Microsoft doesn’t release official Xbox sales figures, however it does provide data Interview Aldora said last month, it was estimated that around 28.3 million Xbox Series X and S consoles had been sold to date, which is consistent with other reports that PS5 sales outnumber them roughly two to at least one. Using Circana’s percentages, that is roughly 13.9 million all-digital Series S consoles and 14.4 million Series X. With a slight difference, each are still more widespread than the diskless PS5.

Why this fashion? One reason could be that unlike the Series S, which normally costs only $300 and infrequently sells for much less, the PS5 digital console began at $400 and really went up in price increase to $450 when a brand new, slim model replaced the premiere edition. The console is even costlier in Japan, where Sony recently raised the price even further. Sold individually, the optical drive costs $80, making it costlier than the $500 PS5 with a disk drive already installed for anyone who chooses to upgrade later.

Another reason could be that while most gamers buy games digitally, many of them still physically own older PS4 generation games or wish to be capable of use their PS5 to observe Blu-rays. Even in the event that they never actually insert a disc into their console, the habit of doing so in the past may lead gamers to decide on consoles with disc drives, at least for now. It’s also price noting that some games, especially Sony’s own hits, like sold more copies physically than digitally.

Perhaps this proves that even when gamers proceed to decide on the convenience of digital downloads, they are going to still pursue the dream of physical gaming by choosing consoles with disc drives. Based on the numbers above, the all-digital PS5 and Series S consoles combined make up just 27 percent of the current install base of high-end consoles, and we’re already approaching the end of this generation’s four-year lifespan. Then again, perhaps the data is only a lagging indicator showing the last gasp of old gaming habits, moderately than lasting preferences. That’s actually the story the gaming section at your local big box store will let you know.

There is already concern that each Sony and Microsoft may move to completely digital consoles in the future. Some analysts predicted that Microsoft would make this leap with its next console, while Sony has one other generation to go. Meanwhile, physical games make up a smaller and smaller share of the market, but still sell tens of tens of millions of copies every year. If at least they exist some die-hard fans by purchasing them, perhaps console manufacturers could have an incentive to proceed including disk drive options.