The NPD Group, an analytics company that maintains sales statistics for video games and related devices in the United States of America, reported revenue of $9,18 billion in the third quarter of 2019. This is 1% more than last year. Revenue growth is driven by the popularity of games familiar to users, as well as additional digital sources.
Familiar games include , Candy Crush Saga, Fortnite, , Madden NFL 20, Minecraft, NBA 2K20 and PokΓ©mon Go. They all contributed significantly to quarterly results, resulting in double-digit increases in purchases across consoles and mobile. Subscriptions such as Xbox Live Gold, PlayStation Plus, and Xbox Game Pass also posted similar growth.
"Thanks to rising spending on video game content across mobile and subscription services, the US video game market continues to grow," said NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella. β[That] despite [the upcoming transition to a new generation] and strong sales last year.β
Long-term support games smooth the transition between generations. The PlayStation 5 and the next Xbox will be out in about a year. Despite this, total US game sales rose to $27,9 billion. This is unusual, since in the past the imminent introduction of new systems has led to lower revenues. But shifting to digital distribution, subscriptions, and games with long-term support helps make more money over the longer term. And the NPD Group has provided evidence that this is one of the smoothest generational transitions in history.
βThe growth in spending on digital content on consoles has also been remarkable, driven by service-based games that build consistent relationships of interaction with consumers,β Piscatella said. βThese factors have enabled the industry to grow despite challenges in other spending categories.β
People are buying fewer PlayStation and Xbox systems, but these same consumers are investing in Fortnite, Rocket League, and NBA 2K20 micropayments. This creates high stability for an industry that is subject to volatility.
Source: 3dnews.ru