{"id":126842,"date":"2026-06-02T16:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=126842"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:32:23","slug":"digital-vs-physical-video-game-prices-what-to-buy-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/126842-digital-vs-physical-video-game-prices-what-to-buy-in-south-africa","title":{"rendered":"Digital vs physical video game prices – What to buy in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deciding whether to buy physical or digital video games comes down to personal preference rather than affordability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because pricing is similar across the physical and digital versions of the same game when buying it for popular consoles like the PlayStation5 and Xbox Series X|S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may surprise readers to learn this, particularly given that the video game market has shifted heavily from physical copies to digital versions in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As connectivity speeds have increased, and access to more data storage has grown, it has become easier to download and store video games natively on a PC or console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When combined with the convenience of not having to switch out a cartridge or disk every time you want to play a new game, the shift to digital games has been swift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To buy a digital game on console, you must use the dedicated storefront of your chosen model – with Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo all having their own official storefronts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, there are many PC gaming marketplaces to choose from – but Steam has become the dominant name in this sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On any given day, Steam usually boasts between 25 and 33 million active users, while users who visit the site at least once per month hover around 132 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These figures mean that Steam accounts for roughly 75% of global PC digital gaming distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consoles in South Africa<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When comparing prices of video games, it’s best to use launch-day figures, as post-launch prices can fluctuate irregularly depending on publisher preferences or frequent sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another consideration is that Nintendo’s first-party titles are almost always exclusive to the brand\u2019s consoles, and rarely see price decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many major third-party games also make their way to the Nintendo platform, and are available in both digital and physical form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, if you own a PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch, you can get most major third-party titles in either physical or digital form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The odd platform out in this discussion is the PC. Physical copies of video games are virtually non-existent in 2026, with most PCs and laptops not even being built with optical drives any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, when comparing physical to digital video game prices, it makes sense to do this across the three major consoles, rather than including PC into the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a table highlighting the launch-day prices for several games across the three consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Game<\/strong><\/td>PS5 (Physical Version)<\/strong><\/td>PS5 (Digital)<\/strong><\/td>Xbox (Physical Version)<\/strong><\/td>Xbox (Digital)<\/strong><\/td>Switch (Physical Version)<\/strong><\/td>Switch (Digital)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Elden Ring<\/strong><\/td>R1,099<\/td>R1,149<\/td>R1,099<\/td>R1,149<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Hogwarts Legacy<\/strong><\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,099<\/td>R1,069<\/td><\/tr>
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor<\/strong><\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,399<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Diablo IV<\/strong><\/td>R1,379<\/td>R1,379<\/td>R1,379<\/td>R1,379<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Assassin’s Creed Shadows<\/strong><\/td>R1,499<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,499<\/td>R1,429<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle<\/strong><\/td>R1,499<\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,499<\/td>R1,399<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The table shows that comparing physical and digital versions of the same game on the same platform is largely irrelevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prices are often identical, and if not, are so similar as for the difference to be negligible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, all of the PlayStation and Xbox prices are identical across both physical and digital versions of a specific title – meaning you do not generally benefit by choosing one of those consoles over the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nintendo Switch\/Switch 2 versions of popular third-party games are rarer because of differences in these consoles’ system compatibility when compared to the Xbox and PlayStation consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-party Nintendo games tend to be priced similarly to the flagship games available on PlayStation and Xbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released for R1,349 (Physical) and R1,429 (Digital).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steam vs console<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While PC gamers were excluded in the physical vs digital discussion, it is interesting to compare Steam prices to digital game prices on console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When using the same games as before, a clear pattern emerges: PC games are often noticeable cheaper than console games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have listed the launch prices for the digital versions of these games, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Game<\/strong><\/td>Steam Price<\/strong><\/td>PS5 (Digital)<\/strong><\/td>Xbox (Digital)<\/strong><\/td>Switch (Digital)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Elden Ring<\/strong><\/td>R849<\/td>
R1,149<\/td>
R1,149<\/td>		–<\/td><\/tr>
Hogwarts Legacy<\/strong><\/td>R959<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,069<\/td><\/tr>
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor<\/strong><\/td>R1,199<\/td>
R1,399<\/td>
R1,399<\/td>		–<\/td><\/tr>
Diablo IV<\/strong><\/td>R1,379<\/td>
R1,379<\/td>		R1,379<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Assassin’s Creed Shadows<\/strong><\/td>R1,249<\/td>R1,429<\/td>R1,429<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle<\/strong><\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,399<\/td>R1,399<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African gamers can buy new games both physically and digitally, with advantages to both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":126844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[14064,17757,1870,85,243],"class_list":["post-126842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-digital","tag-physical","tag-playstation","tag-steam","tag-xbox-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126842"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126867,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126842\/revisions\/126867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}