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Game Shipments to Reach $12.5 Billion This Year
Next Generation is reporting on numbers from the Consumer Electronics Association, who has projected that game shipments this year will top $12 Billion. With the launches of the Wii and PS3 expected by year's end, and continued brisk 360 sales, the organization expects a near-record breaking year. From the article: "The overall games industry appears to be rebounding quicker than expected, in the midst of the console transition. Combined software, hardware and accessory sales were up 29 percent year-over-year in July, according to the NPD Group. CEA's news release, which was only an excerpt of a complete report, didn't mention thriving handheld sales, most notably of the Nintendo DS, which drove hardware and software sales last month."
I know this is the Consumer Electronics Association and that this article only discusses shipments but what about the subscription fees related to some of those shipments?
MMOGChart says that World of Warcraft has 6.5 million+ users. Since it's a monthly subscription fee of $13, it's around $90 million a month. You can say that Blizzard must rake in a billion or so in subscription fees per year. And that's only Blizzard, isn't this a big part of the gaming industry today?
My work here is dung.
One week, everyone is panicking over soft sales and lessened interest in video games in general. The next week, sales are booming and we're all expecting the Best Year Evar.
There is nothing of any importance to articles like this. Activate filter, please.
I thought piracy was killing the Game Industry..