MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The latest results from stats firm NPD show that the North American games market fell 10 per cent in August compared to the same month a year before.
The entire games market for August dropped from $910.3 million in 2009 to $818.9 million this year. The biggest dip was for software, which dropped 14 per cent – down from $471.2 million to $403.5 million – despite the launch of a new Madden.
Console hardware dropped five per cent from $297.6 million in August 2009 to $282.9 million this year, while accessories also fell six per cent.
Year-to-date the US games market is down eight per cent compared to 2009.
"New physical retail sales of hardware, content and accessories saw another decline in August as compared to last year,” said NPD analyst, Anita Frazier.
In fact, this month reflected the lowest sales for August since 2006. While all categories are down in both dollars and units, the portable portion of the industry is down to a greater extent than is the console portion. Portable dollar sales across hardware, software and accessories is down 25 per cent versus last August, while console dollar sales are down six per cent.
"The 360 and PS3 platforms both grew in dollar sales versus last year. In fact, the 360 platform contributed more than 1/3 of total new physical retail sales across hardware, software and accessories while the PS3 platform contributed over 1/4 of total dollar sales.
"Factoring in seasonality and taking into account some of the incredible games and accessories that are coming out during the remainder of the year, new physical retail video game sales are likely to land in the range of $18.6 to $20 billion for the year."
