Bethesda game director and producer Todd Howard reveals that the critically acclaimed Fallout 4 sold more digital copies on day one than it did physical ones.

For the first time in Bethesda's history, a game from the company has sold more digitally than physically on day one. That game is Fallout 4, and while game director Todd Howard didn't go into specifics, he confirmed as much in a recent interview.

Speaking with Game Informer, Howard described the digital sales of Fallout 4 as "amazing", and confirmed that the game's strong day one digital sales mark a change of pace for the company. It's no secret that many gamers are choosing to eschew physical discs in favor of the convenience of digital media, and Fallout 4's day one digital sales outpacing its physical sales reflect that trend.

Even though Howard stopped short of revealing specific sales figures for Fallout 4, one has to imagine that the game has been very lucrative for Bethesda on both the digital and physical fronts. It's quite possible that the game has managed to reach the company's goal for Fallout 4 to be Bethesda's biggest release ever.

While we don't know for sure how much Fallout 4 has sold at this point, some sales figures have been released in the past that offer a better idea of how well the game did. For one, Fallout 4 made over $100 million digitally in three days, and the retail release shipped 12 million units at launch. Additionally, Fallout 4 made over $750 million in revenue shortly after it launched worldwide in November of last year, and likely has greatly surpassed that number at this point.

But what do the strong digital sales numbers mean for Bethesda and the gaming industry in the long run? Well, those that think it means the end of physical game releases should rest easy. Even though Fallout 4 did exceptionally well in the digital space, there are still many that prefer to walk into a brick and mortar store and buy a physical disc. While that market still exists, and while it remains as viable as it is, physical media won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

While Bethesda may ramp up its focus on digital media, perhaps by offering more digital-only pre-order bonuses, don't expect the company to completely abandon physical retail releases in favor of the digital realm. In fact, in the past, Bethesda has been shown to favor the physical media gamer quite a bit, releasing Fallout 3's DLC and Wolfenstein's standalone expansion on discs. It remains to be seen if Fallout 4's DLC will enjoy the same treatment, but there's certainly a chance, regardless of the game's impressive digital sales.

Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: VG 24/7