Average game price falls in ’09

The latest research from TNS Worldpanel Entertainment suggests that the average selling price for video games has fallen over the last year.

In the 52 weeks ending May 24th 2009, the average price across all formats fell to 21.97, a decline of two per cent, according to the firm.

The same figure for the Xbox 360 also fell over the course of the year, with an estimated year-on-year decrease of 16 per cent bringing the selling price down to 26.27.

However, Microsoft’s platform showed the smallest decline in average consumer expenditure, with the average Xbox 360 owner spending 104.57 in the last 52 weeks.

Conversely, PC games have actually seen a rise in the average selling price, up from 12.97 last year to 13.97. However, the market declined in both value and volume.

Overall expenditure for the industry rose when compared to the same time last year, as did the number of units sold. Gamers spent an estimated 1.88 billion in this period, an increase of 12 per cent, with 85.6 million games sold, up by 14 per cent.

The games market saw an eight per cent penetration growth in the last year, with 20 to 25 year-olds identified as the main contributors to this increase, up by 19 per cent.

Nintendo continues to be the primary driver behind the industry, with the Wii accounting for 80 per cent of the console market’s growth.

Meanwhile, the PS3 has a strong year with a 49 per cent increase in value and now represents 18 per cent of the games market’s total spend.

In the retail sector, only music and video specialists, supermarkets and specified chains saw their market shares decrease. Online retailers showed the most significant increase, up from a share of 21 per cent to 25.1 per cent.