Gaming Successfully Battles Recession

See Full Image

Most everyone has tightened the belt in this recession, but video game analysts are taking the logical approach: in a recession, people tend to stay home and hence, home entertainment goes on the rise.

According to a recent report from Reuters, analyst Toon van Beeck from IbisWorld expects industry revenue to hit $41.9 billion this year, and they also add that with the immense success of the Wii, female gamers have increased in number; they now make up about 38% of the gamer group. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter chimed in to say that game sales are definitely on the upswing, but developers can't afford to slack off. Said Pachter:

"Videogame sales have been impacted the least from the global recession and there are no real signs of it slowing. In order to maintain this healthy growth momentum, however, the gaming industry needs to continue providing appealing content and innovative experiences to compete for consumers' entertainment time and share of wallet."

Many have asked if the industry is "recession-proof," and to support the theory, while much of the world spiraled downward last fall, international sales of video games actually rose. In 2008, game sales in the U.S. increased 19% over 2007. And in the first two months of this year, when many businesses were really feeling the crunch, U.S. game sales jumped 11%. IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon finished with this comment:

"What this means is that games will see double digit growth in North America and worldwide, but that gamers will consider purchases more carefully. Gaming enthusiasts will demand quality games and will not buy games that are considered second rate. The mainstream consumer will also buy fewer games but will be less savvy about quality."

Yep, many gamers are certainly being more selective...but they're still gonna buy their most anticipated titles.

4/2/2009 John Shepard

Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter