Credit crunch? What credit crunch? The resilience of the video games market to the global financial crisis is still a matter of debate, but annual year-on-year growth of 18 per cent for the month of October in North America is undoubtedly a very positive sign.

NPD figures show that the US games industry reached a value of $1.31 billion last month, up from October 2007’s value of $1.12 billion. Hardware sales climbed 35 per cent to reach $696.79 million, though sales of peripherals fell by eight per cent to $120.19 million. The handheld market is also showing signs of decline.

“The video games industry grew an impressive 18 per cent year-over-year in the first month of the critical fourth quarter,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier explained. “With ten months under its belt, the video games industry is still poised to top $22 billion in annual sales in 2008.

“The sales results are mixed this month, however. The console portion of the market made significant gains at 26 per cent across hardware, software and accessories, while the portable side of the market stalled, declining 14 per cent. Year-to-date the portable segment of the market is still up seven per cent.”

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