Video Game Sales Topping Off?
Author: AF Duncan
February 6th, 2006
The NYT is usually the last news outlet on top of these types of things, but today they have a timely article that calls attention to last year’s 12% drop in video game sales, and looks at the general concerns of the industry about their audience growing beyond hardcore gamers.
I tend to think game publishers and console manufacturers don’t really have anything to worry about — it seems like there’s always a sales dip around the “console transitions” — but it wouldn’t hurt for game publishers to consider folks who would like to see some more variety, and don’t want to spend 40-50+ hours with every game.
In November, Activision released True Crime: New York City, a video game that seemed to have all the makings of a hit. It was the sequel to a well-received game, it had the violent aesthetic of the popular Grand Theft Auto series, and it featured licensed songs from name acts like DMX and Public Enemy. Activision promoted the game heavily, with full-page advertisements in mainstream magazines.
By the end of December, however, the game had sold only 348,000 copies — more than the 210,000 that the first game in the franchise sold in the same time period when it was released in 2003, but significantly below expectations.
For a new video game, the last two months of the year is a critical period that usually represents almost half of annual sales — like the summer and the holiday season combined for the movie business. When a highly anticipated game does not hit its numbers in that period, its publisher cannot rely on it to offset any revenue shortfall in weaker releases.
Check out the rest of the article HERE.
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4 Responses to “Video Game Sales Topping Off?”
February 6th, 2006 at 8:06 am
This is what Nintendo’s president was talking about in his keynote address months ago when the Revolution was unveiled. Sales have dipped seriously in Japan, and they were afraid the same would happen in the US. That’s the main reason Nintendo is making things like the DS and the Rev — new, easier/new user-friendly ways to play. The hardcore will be there, but their main goal is to expand the market. Apparently, the Xbox 360 is already dead in Japan. It’s known I’m a Nintendo fan, but I really think they’re onto something with the Rev. We’ll see in a few months…
February 6th, 2006 at 8:43 am
Yeah, I’m excited to see what the deal is with the Rev. I know it’s nearly impossible for media corporations to be all things to all people, but we’ll see how it goes.
I tend to think there’s a dead spot right now because most people are in limbo waiting to see how the next gen consoles shake out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a good year or two before there’s a lot of excitement over video games like we saw in 2004. I mean, that was just beautiful timing with the new Halo, GTA, etc.
I thought I read about the 360 being dead in Japan, too. But is that surprising? The original XBox never took off there, right?
February 6th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Nope, the original Xbox died a mierable death there too. But with the 360 they thought they had a shot — sleek design, Japanese developers, etc. Oh well.
Did you read that blog from the PS3 developer? Kind of worrisome.
February 6th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
That blog thing is nuts! You should post the link. I like to think it’s corporate sabotage from Microsoft…