A report on The Game Business has revealed that UK sales of Astro Bot were 55% physical purchases following its launch in September 2024, with nearly 60% physical copies in Europe.
The article looks at the wider situation on the decline of physical games sales as digital purchases are largely favoured by consumers in a post-COVID landscape. As noted by Christopher Dring in the report, sales of boxed goods have declined across all formats, with PS5 seeing a decrease in 800,000 physical game purchase year-on-year in 2024 and Xbox falling 300,000 during the same time period.
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Nintendo Switch has proven to be the most successful format in terms of physical game sales, although even that system saw a decline in boxed sales by 1.8 million. However, physical purchases still make up 80% of new Switch game sales in Europe.
As for Astro Bot, Team Asobi’s family-friendly platformer saw huge success following its release on PS5 last fall, notching up rave reviews and collecting multiple Game of the Year gongs. Most recently, it picked up the trophy for Best Game at the 2025 BAFTA Game Awards earlier this month.
[Source – The Game Business]