NPD comes to the UK

Market research company NPD, which is best known for compiling the US video game charts, is coming to Europe.

And furthermore, it intends to deliver something we’ve until now been without – a complete and regularly updated picture of total consumer video games expenditure outside of the physical games market.

The Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend Service will provide sales estimates across all channels including social network gaming, used video games, rentals, subscriptions, digital downloads, downloadable content, and mobile games.

It will do so in a number of European countries including the UK, France and Germany. Once the Euro service is rolled out NPD intends to launch an Asian market version.

Currently Gfk Chart-Track offers weekly UK sales numbers pertaining only to physical goods – an increasingly small part of the market. However, the data is concrete and not estimated.

The new digital distribution channels in video games are not country specific,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier stated. They are global in nature, which is why NPD is taking its proven, proprietary methodology, developed over a number of years, and applying it to a global perspective.”

UPDATE: NPD has contacted MCV to clarify that it will not be tracking data already followed in the UK by Gfk Chart-Track. "The service in Europe will focus on measuring channels that are not currently tracked in Europe – namely those occurring outside of new physical retail sales," a representative confirmed. The story has been amended accordingly.