U.S. videogame sales jump 17%
Hardware, software revenue at $22 billion
By Danny King -- Video Business, 1/28/2009
JAN. 28 | U.S. videogame industry revenue rose about 17% last year, reflecting record holiday-season sales and contradicting the revenue decline in other packaged-media categories such as DVDs and CDs, according to the Entertainment Software Assn.
U.S. customers spent about $22 billion on videogame hardware and software, up from $18.9 billion in 2007. Software sales surged 23%, the ESA said, citing statistics from the NPD Group.
"Even in difficult economic times, the videogame industry continues to support our country's local, state and national economies with record-breaking sales figures and rapid technological innovation," ESA CEO Michael D. Gallagher said in the statement.
Earlier this month, international research firm Media Control GfK International reported that global videogame software sales jumped 20% last year and for the first time accounted for a majority of the $61 billion global packaged-media industry.
U.S. home entertainment sales fell 5.7% last year to $21.7 billion, despite spending on Blu-ray discs tripling, according to data compiled by Video Business and Rentrak.
With gaming demand surging for the holidays, customers spent about $5.3 billion on videogame hardware and software last month, marking the first time monthly sales exceeded $5 billion, the ESA said.
Online videogame sales also have increased. Earlier this month, ComScore said online videogame sales during the holiday season jumped 14%, making it the second-fastest growing online spending category behind sports and fitness items.
Meanwhile, online-gaming Web sites received about 86 million unique visitors last month, up 27% from a year earlier, as advertising-supported sites gave customers an opportunity to play computer games without spending money on software, ComScore said in a separate statement today. Yahoo! Games accounted for about 23% of the online-gaming visitors, followed by Electronic Arts' 18% share, ComScore said.
