Blame it at the economy, or just chalk it as much as a more in-depth way of earning revenue, but physical distributors of recent games are starting to feel some major heat from the scrappy competition . While this mainstay segment still comprises the majority of sales with $1.44 billion earned inside the previous quarter, the mixing of digital purchases, subscriptions, downloadable content, social network and mobile games — in conjunction with help from rentals and used purchases — now tops $1.74 billion dollars. This news comes from the NPD Group , and while we’re still scratching our heads on the logic of mixing second-hand purchases with electronic distribution, it provides a powerful indicator of consumers’ changing tastes and preferences (together with their willingness to spend). Does this industry titan simply want a new console or another Call of Duty to preserve supremacy? Perhaps a modest uptick in GDP? Or does this signal the changing of the guard for our favourite electronic pastime? There is a full PR after the break, where you’re welcome to fireside one off within the comments and tell us your take.
[Image courtesy bradleyolin / flickr ]
PORT WASHINGTON, NY, October 5, 2011 – In keeping with the Q2 2011 Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend report from leading market research company, The NPD Group, as well as the $1.44 billion spent within the U.S. by consumers on new physical video and PC game software inside the second quarter of 2011, the full consumer spend on content via other monetization methods, including used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is estimated at $1.74 billion. The full amount spent by consumers on hardware, content and accessories is estimated at $4.5 billion, a rise of one percent versus Q2 2010.
“While the brand new physical retail channel still generates nearly all of industry sales, our expanded research coverage allows us to evaluate the full consumer spend around the growing choice of how to acquire and experience gaming, including mobile apps and downloadable content,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Through a mixture of point-of-sale and consumer research tracking, The NPD Group is providing an expanded, more comprehensive measure of a dynamic and rapidly evolving games industry. We’re excited that we’re expanding our coverage of the patron spend in emerging distribution channels to hide the united kingdom, France and Germany in early 2012.”
Methodology
The estimates are published in NPD’s new report, Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend –released by The NPD Group in late September 2011 – and are derived leveraging NPD’s portfolio of physical POS tracking (Retail Tracking Service) and consumer research including the Games Acquisition Monitor, Online game and PC Game Subscriptions Report and Consumer Tracking Service. It also incorporates consumer spend estimation provided by NPD retail and publisher partners, and calibration with third-party sources.
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