PC Game Sales Dropped In 2005

Gamasutra reports on the not-terribly-surprising news that PC game sales were down in 2005. From the article: "Also doing excellently was EA's The Sims 2 and its two associated expansions, and The Sims franchise collectively took up four of the top ten spots. The rest of the top ten is made up of a mixture of the mass-market accessible games, such as Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, with the more 'hardcore' shooter and MMO titles such as Guild Wars and Battlefield 2."

Comments

Re:Meanwhile...

[Soulslayer]

Incorrect. Sales of home console hardware, portable console hardware, home console software and portable software combined set a new overall record.

Home console software sales were actually down 12% in 2005.

Re:Console Game Sales Down Nearly as Much

[Soulslayer]

Oh and if one fully RTFA's you will see that Gamasutra notes:

As a result of this skewing away from retail, NPD will be changing its PC chart calculation in the near future, as NPD's industry analyst Anita Frazier commented: "NPD will be launching its new definition of the U.S. PC game market this spring which will include a combination of sales from retail, downloads, and both casual and MMO subscription revenues. We expect this will add significant dollars to the PC game market size."

So even NPD concedes that monitoring retail sales alone is not an accurate reflection of the current PC market value.