Ben-DutkaIt'll be interesting to see this same report next year, after the new generation has been in full swing for a good 6-8 months.
The NPD Group has released the findings of their 2013 Games Market Dynamics: US Report, and we learn that consumers spent $2.88 billion on games between April and June. That's down only 3% from last year's $2.97 billion, despite the tailing off of the current generation.
That $2.88 billion includes $769 million spent during the quarter on new physical console and PC software, along with used and rental spending of $343 million. Digital content (which does include mobile and social games in addition to DLC and full game downloads) came in at $1.7 billion. Obviously, the majority is digital these days, as the NPD has reminded us with each monthly report in 2013 so far. Hardware and accessories fell during the period in question but again, given the aging generation, that's not surprising.
Said NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan:
"The decrease in new physical spending is partly due to the decline in the number of new SKUs released at retail, (with 37 percent fewer new SKUs in Q2'13 compared to Q2'12) which is to be expected as developers, publishers, and consumers alike prepare for the next hardware generation."
Callahan added that DLC and full-game downloads increased 27%, which is another example of the growth of digital media. Love it or hate it, the digital age of gaming is coming fast and in many ways, is already upon us.
And like a third of that went to CoD, jeez.
I've been buying more digital games lately and I find it much more convenient especially on the Vita. I know people love physical ownership of games and movies, and I do as well, but I bet people buy digitally for convenience like I do for the Vita.
i just find that all the DLC is over priced many others will say the same thing and i've said it before but people stupid people still buy over priced so why wud the price drop thats my only problem with this section of digital gaming and i needs to be fixed i paid very little in nzd for the DLC i've bought for BF3 and heros 6 cos it's not worth that much only proper expansions are not this crummy DLC that we get feed.anyways as always
happy gaming =)
Every time you type their name, it looks, at a quick glance, like NDP. lol.
It's hard to take digital sales seriously when Steam doesn't even give out their info. And as stated, social games are included. How many people realize how much money Candy Crush makes? It's ridiculous. A big reason why F2P with micro-transactions is becoming a huge thing. It makes them more money if it becomes popular.
Last edited by LegendaryWolfeh on 9/6/2013 6:16:15 AM
http://thinkgaming.com/app-sales-data/2/candy-crush-saga/ as an example.
The last game that I purchased digitally was Catherine and I regret it. I would like to use my HDD for something else like movies and music.
I love convenience and it's very easy to have it in the HDD but there's something about the physical disc that makes it more special.