Thanks to rampant piracy, it was probably several years ago that computer gamers started downloading more of their games than they bought on disc, but now even honest gamers are following suit. For the first time in the PC game market, the number of digital sales surpassed those of disc-based games.

The NPD Group, which tracks video game sales, reports gamers bought 11.2 million games in the first six months of the year, versus 8.2 million disc games. Download portals Steam and Bigish led the charge, gobbling up market share.

If you play PC games, which route do you take to buy your products, and why?

PC FULL-GAME DIGITAL DOWNLOADS SURPASS RETAIL UNIT SALES [NPD via Joystiq]

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