Author: random515
Title: US Retail Game Sales Down 8% in 2009
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010 at 2:08 am
The NPD Group 2009 report on total game industry retail sales in the US, released today, has revealed a drop in revenue of 8% since last year, with sales totalling USD 19.66 billion, down from USD 21.4 billion during 2008.
While 2009 resulted in the industry contracting, it is important to remember, says NPD analyst Anita Frazier, that the US games industry has grown hugely over the past decade.
“When we started the last decade, video game industry sales, including PC games, totaled $7.98 billion in 2000,” Frazier said. “In 10 years, the industry has changed dramatically in many ways, but most importantly it was grown over those years by more than 250 percent at retail alone. Considering there are many new sources of revenue including subscriptions and digital distribution, industry growth is even more impressive.”
Total console hardware sales also fell during the year, by 13 percent, with portable hardware being the only area to see growth, rising 6 percent from 2008. Nintendo’s DS topped the hardware sales for year, shifting 11,185,400 units in the US over the course of the year. The Wii cam in first amongst the home consoles, selling 9,594,000 units. Total units sold figures for hardware can be found below.
Top-Selling Hardware – 2009:
DS: 11,185,400
Wii: 9,594,000
Xbox 360: 4,770,700
PS3: 4,334,500
PSP: 2,495,900
PS2: 1,799,900
Evidence for those that believe the PC is dying out as a gaming platform also came out of the report, with US PC software sales falling 23 percent to $538 million. However, it is important to note that NPD does not track software sold through non-brick-and-mortar retail outlets, such as digital distribution.
Unsurprisingly, Activision/Infinity Ward’s record breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (the Xbox 360 version) took out first place in the console/portable software sales. Both PS3 and 360 versions on the game sold 8.82 million units at US retail during November and December.
Both console/portable software and PC game software charts are below.
Console and Portable Game Software – 2009:
1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360) - Activision
2) Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - Nintendo
3) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - Nintendo
4) Wii Fit with Balance Board (Wii) - Nintendo
5) Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - Nintendo
6) Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - Nintendo
7) Wii Play with Wii Remote (Wii) - Nintendo
8) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) - Activision
9) Halo 3: ODST (360) - Microsoft
10) Pokemon Platinum (DS) – Nintendo
PC Game Software – 2009:
1) The Sims 3 - Electronic Arts
2) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Blizzard
3) The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
4) World of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
5) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Activision
6) World of Warcraft - Blizzard
7) The Sims 3: World Adventures - Electronic Arts
8) Spore - Electronic Arts
9) Dragon Age: Origins - Electronic Arts
10) Empire: Total War - Sega
- By Ira Herbold
