NPD Group: PC Game Sales Down 23% in 2009 - General Tech 2The latest NPD sales figures are out and it’s more doom and gloom for PC gaming. According to the NPD Group, the sales of PC games declined 23% in 2009 to $538 billion total, compared to the 11% decline seen on consoles. It was just a year ago experts were predicting that the game industry is relatively immune to the effects of a global economic decline, obviously this wasn’t the case.

Overall, the gaming industry saw an 8% decline in games sales. The only segment that experienced any growth was the portable game market with a 7% increase.

I suspect the combination of poor PC titles (including half-baked releases and dodgy console ports), poor platform support, major publishers emphasizing their console portfolio, and the bad economy have been reasons for such a drastic decline in PC game sales.

While Entertainment Software Association president and CEO Michael D. Gallagher hopes for a good 2010, it will be interesting to see this applies to PC market.
The decline in the PC game software industry was 23% with $538 million generated in 2009. Console game software sales also slipped 11% to $11.7 billion in 2008. The only gaming category that saw growth in 2009 was portable hardware sales with a 6% increase. All other video game categories declined for the year compared to 2008.

Entertainment Software Association president and CEO Michael D. Gallagher said, “Clearly, 2009 was a tough year for consumers and the national economy. However, the bigger picture is one that underscores the industry’s strength 2009 and 2008 were the highest grossing years in our industry’s history. That said, our industry’s structure is solid, and I anticipate a strong 2010 with a pipeline full of highly anticipated titles.”

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