EA Expects Digital Sales to Overtake Box Retail Game Sales in 2 to 3 Years

From DailyTech: The gaming industry is facing an increasingly difficult road to making money. Game sales continue to decline as more and more gamers migrate to mobile gaming and online social games. EA COO Peter Moore recently stated that within a few years the company expects digital downloads of its games to overtake sales of boxed versions.

Moore also noted that the company is focused on expanding its array of mobile and free-to-play products. EA publishes some of the most popular games on the market including the “Battlefield” franchise, “Madden NFL”, “Star Wars”, and countless others.

The “Star Wars” MMORPG isn't dong well and will move to a free-to-play model. It was reported earlier this year that the game lost 25% of its subscribers.

"There will come a point, whether it is two or three years from now, when we say. 'We are doing more in digital media now than we are in physical media,' and it's clearly ... not far away," Moore said. Moore pointed out that EA's digital revenue had increased to $1.3 billion in the previous 12 months.

Moore also noted, "This fiscal year we have 41 social mobile and free-to-play games on the slate, and later in the year we might make announcements about more games coming."

Many game publishers and developers are increasingly moving to free-to-play models for video games. These games are free to download and play, but players have the ability to purchase in game items to increase their capability in the game such as different weapons and armor.

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