The worst of the recession may be behind us, but according to NPD’s April sales figures, the video game industry struggled in April 2010. In fact, last month saw a 26 percent drop in sales from April 2009.
NPD’s sales figures are limited to the US market, which is the biggest in the world. In April 2009 US consumers spent $1.03 billion on games and consoles, while the same month this year saw only $766.2 million change hands.
At this point of the year in 2009, the industry had cleared $5.29 billion. To date, the industry has taken in $4.73 billion in 2010, indicating an overall drop on 11 percent in 2010. To make matters worse, 2009 was significantly down from 2008; a fact that at the time was attributed to the recession.
A large portion of the loss of sales has been attributed to the mobile sector. In fact, NPD claim that 61 percent of the drop in sales this year are due to the decline in the portable market.
Top ten selling games in the US in April 2010
1 Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction 486,100
2. Pokemon SoulSilver 242,900
3. New Super Mario Bros. 200,300
4. Pokemon HeartGold 192,600
5. God of War III 180,300
6. Wii Sports Resort
7. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360) 166,000)
8. Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board
9. Just Dance
10. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
Hardware sales charts for April 2010
1. Nintendo DS: 440,800
2. Wii: 277,200
3. Xbox 360: 185,400
4. PlayStation 3: 180,800
5. PSP: 65,500
Miraculously, Microsoft maintains its lead on Sony despite the perceived popularity of the PS3 Slim. Nintendo hold the top two positions, with the DS and Wii, and the PSP lags begin with just 65,000 unit sales.
One reason given for the April sales slump is that Easter fell earlier in 2009, so many celebratory Easter purchases for last year fell into March, leading to an apparent decline in sales in April 2010.
Still, the overall decline in sales this year does not bode well for the industry,
Discuss game industry slump in the forums
Loading ...
