IDC predicts game disc revenue will "rise substantively" in 2014

The next-generation of consoles will be a huge commercial success according to a new report from the International Data Corporation.

A new report entitled Worldwide Video Game and Entertainment Console Hardware and Packaged Software 2012-2016 Forecast reckons that the new offerings from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft will stand largely unchallenged through the next cycle.

Discs will remain the console game revenue mainstay for years to come," IDC gaming research manager Lewis Ward.

"2011 and 2012 were tough for many console game disc developers and publishers. With the advent of eighth-generation consoles, starting with the Wii U, historical norms strongly imply that game disc revenue will stop bleeding in 2013 and rise substantively in 2014."

The report also predicted total unit sales of 50m for Nintendo’s Wii U by 2016, with further success for the new machines from Sony and Microsoft.

It doesn’t appear that alternative platforms – set-top boxes from cable companies, web-connected smart TVs, and so on – are positioned to materially disrupt the trajectory of the ‘big 3’ console OEMs in 2013 or 2014,” it added.