These platforms provide centralized services to purchase and download digital content for either specific video game consoles or personal computers.
The service allowed Atari 2600 owners to use a specialized cartridge to connect through a phone line to a central server and rent a video game for 5–10 days.
[3][4][5]: 75–76 It was called truly ground-breaking for its time and could be considered a forerunner of more modern distribution methods [such as] Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, prior to the widespread adoption of the Internet, it was common for software developers to upload demos and shareware to Bulletin Board Systems.
These factors contributed to a sharp decline in BBS usage in the early 1990s, coinciding with the rise of inexpensive Internet providers.
In the mid-1990s, with the rise of the Internet, early individual examples for digital distribution under usage of this new medium emerged, although there were no significant services for it.
[9] The proliferation of Internet-enabled consoles allowed also additional buyable content that could be added onto full retail games, such as maps, in-game clothing, and gameplay.
In 2008, Stardock announced Impulse a third-generation digital distribution platform, which included independent third-party games and major publisher titles.
[13] In September 2003 Valve released the Steam platform for Windows computers (later expanded to Mac OS and Linux) as a means to distribute Valve-developed video games.
[21] Origin, a new version of the Electronic Arts online store, was released in 2011 in order to compete with Steam and other digital distribution platforms on the PC.
[22] Digital distribution is the dominant method of delivering content on mobile platforms such as iOS devices and Android phones.
Services like Steam, Origin, and Xbox Live do not offer ways to sell used games once they are no longer desired.
Since the 2000s, when digital distribution saw its first meaningful surge in popularity, an increasing number of niche market titles have been made available and become commercially successful, including (but not limited to) remakes of classic games.
According to a 2019 study by IGN based on published data and interviews with publishers and developers, this is nearly 30% for the personal computer storefronts, including Steam, GOG.com and Microsoft, for console services for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, for mobile app stores including App Store and Google Play.
[32] This 30% cut is consistent with past licensing for development on video game consoles since the Nintendo Entertainment System.
[33] Surveys from 2019 to 2021 found developers and publishers desired to see a reduction of industry-standard 30% take, since this would increase the amount of revenue they would see from each sale.