Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June

The Washington Post has results from the NPD Group from June, with the market research group reporting sales of videogame hardware, software, and accessories totaled $995 million, a decline of 10% over the same period last year. It should be noted that this does not include digitally distributed games. It also sounds as if the small segment of this that represents sales of PC games did better than the rest of the market:
Sales of software, the games themselves, dropped 12 percent to $469.5 million. When including PC games, total software sales fell 10 percent to $508.9 million.

Doug Creutz, an analyst with Cowen and Co., had expected June sales to disappoint, although he said several titles aimed at hardcore gamers did worse than expected. Those include “Duke Nukem Forever” from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., and “Red Faction: Armageddon” from THQ Inc. Both were hurt by poor reviews, he said.
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37.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 17, 2011, 01:35
37.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 17, 2011, 01:35
Jul 17, 2011, 01:35
 
Veterator wrote on Jul 16, 2011, 08:13:
nin wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 23:05:
Sins of a Solar Empire?

Torchlight?


Basically indie to me means independent, so if they are supported by a publisher they are no longer indie.

Sins of a solar empire was published by Stardock, Stardock helped them with the game. I might call it indie due to it's budget, but doesn't really fit the definition of indie if Stardock was tied in with the game during development.

Stardock was more of a partner/co-developer on Sins than a publisher and Stardock itself is considered an indie.
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36.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 16, 2011, 08:13
36.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 16, 2011, 08:13
Jul 16, 2011, 08:13
 
nin wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 23:05:
Sins of a Solar Empire?

Torchlight?


Basically indie to me means independent, so if they are supported by a publisher they are no longer indie.

Sins of a solar empire was published by Stardock, Stardock helped them with the game. I might call it indie due to it's budget, but doesn't really fit the definition of indie if Stardock was tied in with the game during development.

Torchlight was indie as far as I can tell. It looks like a publisher bought up a major portion Runic Games if not entirely since then though...Im having trouble telling if the boxed sales were pre-publisher buy out or post-publisher.

Torchlight was indie, it's just a matter of when the publisher got their hooks in and when the boxed game was put out.

So you might have Torchlight as a boxed indie game.
35.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 16, 2011, 05:59
35.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 16, 2011, 05:59
Jul 16, 2011, 05:59
 
Seriously, who thought regenerating health and a 2 weapon limit in a Duke Nukem game was a good idea?

But... but... Call of Duty does it so every game should do it too!

Yep and that is only EA who doesn't even release a lot of stuff on the PC. The consoles get 90% of all they make the PC probably 60%. If they released their sports games on the PC, it might have even eclipsed both the PS3 and 360 for #1. If all games they made were released for all genre's it possible to just assume the PC would be #1. So it does make you wonder what kind of marketing they have going on over there.

Eh, that's stretching it a bit. EA releases tons of games on PC. Most of EA's games are released on PC. In addition, sports games are far more likely to sell on mainstream consoles than on PC. That's why publishers rarely release sports games for PC.
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34.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 23:05
nin
34.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 23:05
Jul 15, 2011, 23:05
nin
 

Sins of a Solar Empire?

Torchlight?

33.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 22:58
33.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 22:58
Jul 15, 2011, 22:58
 
Dev wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 07:50:
http://www.bluesnews.com/s/123542/npd-us-spent-usd-5-9b-on-videogames-in-q1-2011

Veterator wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:11:
It's bad when the 10 dollar indie games give about as much play time as the full price triple As. Haven't seen a boxed edition of the indies.
Some indies DO make it to boxed editions. I consider Plants vs Zombies an indie title and they had a deluxe boxed version I picked up that had a zombie figurine in it.

Can you name one other? Even better if it's carried by a major retailer.
32.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 16:01
32.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 16:01
Jul 15, 2011, 16:01
 
Teddy wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:42:
Disagreed 100%. It was an awful game. Boring as hell, straight "follow the dotted line" game with nothing interesting in it to make it worth $10 much less $50. It shat on it's predecessor almost as bad as DNF did.

I don't view linear as equaling bad.
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31.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 12:41
31.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 12:41
Jul 15, 2011, 12:41
 
Yeah, I've seen those EA numbers and they're definitely interesting.

It's pretty likely that Bad Company 2 was overwhelmingly successful on PC - easily stacking up with the 360 or at least the PS3 version - which is what convinced them to put so much focus on the PC version for Battlefield 3.
30.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 11:46
Prez
 
30.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 11:46
Jul 15, 2011, 11:46
 Prez
 
I find myself caring less and less about physical sales of anything, be it games, movies, books, what have you. I'm a devourer of the digital!

As far as the reason given for poor sales of RF:A and DNF, I'm sure poor reviews didn't help but it's a bit disingenuous to point that out without mentioning how both were a step back from their predecessors and had significant flaws that "hardcore" gamers care about.

Seriously, who thought regenerating health and a 2 weapon limit in a Duke Nukem game was a good idea?
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
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29.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 10:05
29.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 10:05
Jul 15, 2011, 10:05
 
Yep and that is only EA who doesn't even release a lot of stuff on the PC. The consoles get 90% of all they make the PC probably 60%. If they released their sports games on the PC, it might have even eclipsed both the PS3 and 360 for #1. If all games they made were released for all genre's it possible to just assume the PC would be #1. So it does make you wonder what kind of marketing they have going on over there.
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28.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 09:18
28.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 09:18
Jul 15, 2011, 09:18
 
Dev wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 07:50:
Some indies DO make it to boxed editions. I consider Plants vs Zombies an indie title and they had a deluxe boxed version I picked up that had a zombie figurine in it.

Sure, it's a term that has more than one definition, but I don't consider a company that was just bought for ~1.3 billion the same thing as an 'indie'... Sure, they may not have a separate publisher, but really, it's not like the other titles mentioned in this thread (magicka, sanctum, terraria, etc...).

-Alamar
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27.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 08:01
Dev
27.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 08:01
Jul 15, 2011, 08:01
Dev
 
elefunk wrote on Jul 14, 2011, 23:09:
Riker wrote on Jul 14, 2011, 22:40:
Am I reading that right? That only about 8% of physical game sales are PC games?
Of course, do you actually expect it to be more than 8%?

I mean, first you have the obvious fact that "PC" is illogically stacked up against 6 other competing platforms combined
[...]
But then of course you have the fact that digital distribution has been totally controlling PC gaming for years.
EA's latest yearly financials are instructive in this regard, since they DO include digital:
http://investor.ea.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-11-149262&CIK=712515
Consoles
Xbox 360 $1,055
PLAYSTATION 3 $1,000
Wii $266
PlayStation 2 $64
Total consoles $2,385

PC $669

Mobile and handhelds
Mobile $230
Nintendo DS $96
PSP $74

Total mobile and handhelds 400

Other $135

Total net revenue $3,589
PC revenue outnumbers 4 of the platforms EA breaks out combined: wii + mobile + DS + PSP.
PC platform revenue is 2/3rds of the PS3 platform.
PC platform revenue is 2/3rds of the xbox 360 platform.


Oh and PC gaming is surely dead right? No one is buying PC games since its so easy to pirate, right?

This comment was edited on Jul 15, 2011, 08:12.
26.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 07:50
Dev
26.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 07:50
Jul 15, 2011, 07:50
Dev
 
http://www.bluesnews.com/s/123542/npd-us-spent-usd-5-9b-on-videogames-in-q1-2011
NPD's estimates for video game spending in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2011, saying this totals about $5.9 billion, an increase of 1.5% over the same period last year. Word is: "That total amount includes $1.85 billion generated from used games, rentals, subscriptions, digital download, social networking, DLC and mobile games. The total also included $2.03 billion of consumer spend on physical retail console and PC games."

NPD already said it was already up for the first quarter of this year before including June. A 1 month change isn't anything significant. It could be dependent on a hit game or two. Its ironic that this down news got about 25 times the replies than the up news posted just FOUR DAYS AGO (I was actually the ONLY reply on that). I will note that this June was duke's release month though

Veterator wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:11:
It's bad when the 10 dollar indie games give about as much play time as the full price triple As. Haven't seen a boxed edition of the indies.
Some indies DO make it to boxed editions. I consider Plants vs Zombies an indie title and they had a deluxe boxed version I picked up that had a zombie figurine in it.

This comment was edited on Jul 15, 2011, 08:10.
25.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 07:48
25.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 07:48
Jul 15, 2011, 07:48
 
Esoteric wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:28:
Veterator wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:11:
It's bad when the 10 dollar indie games give about as much play time as the full price triple As. Haven't seen a boxed edition of the indies.

Indeed. It seems that lately I've been buying and enjoying indie games a lot more than AAA games. Defense Grid, Frozen Synapse, Sanctum, Terraria, Magicka, etc. Don't get me wrong, some AAAs are still really good (Just Cause 2 is incredible! Just got it on the Steam sale), but there's real competition now on who gets our money.

Ive been saying for a long time, the way publishers treat PC gamers as second class citizens and the rising quality in indies plus acessible prices means pc gaming is being taken over, if it has not already been taken over, by the indies.

Indies FTW
24.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 03:36
24.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 03:36
Jul 15, 2011, 03:36
 
Not really at all surprised. The local Meijer finally stopped carrying PC titles altogether recently, but they were never big on them to begin with. Never more than 4 feet of shelf space or so. They had expansion packs to the original Sims on their shelf, as well as a sign with EA's original logo. The one they stopped using in 1999. Micro Center is even worse. They have so much old shit in their PC gaming section it's like walking through my childhood. Talk about never throwing anything away. I think I saw Descent there.
Huh? I'm sorry, I was thinking about cake.
23.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 01:55
23.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 01:55
Jul 15, 2011, 01:55
 
StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:04:
RFA is actually a pretty good sci-fi bug shooter, I really enjoyed my time with it. Most reviews and such seemed to bash it mainly because it wasn't an open-world game like the last one.

Pretty much. After RF:G, it feels terribly linear and quite short.

Teddy wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:42:
Disagreed 100%. It was an awful game. Boring as hell, straight "follow the dotted line" game with nothing interesting in it to make it worth $10 much less $50. It shat on it's predecessor almost as bad as DNF did.

Could be worse, could be Homefront. That actually had "Follow" hovering over the guy you were supposed to traipse after for 95% of the extremely short campaign...
22.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 01:50
22.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 01:50
Jul 15, 2011, 01:50
 
Quboid wrote on Jul 14, 2011, 22:44:
I go into my local Game store occasionally. I look around, read the back of a few games' boxes and think "Interesting, I must check out Metacritic and see how much it is on Steam." I can't imagine wanting a physical copy anymore.

That would me me too. I've been at this gaming thing for a long time (1981+/-) and I'm old and jaded... and I have kids, cats, dogs and... no time for bull-pucky and yammer about how great your game is. Gimme a demo and I'll download it and play it in the time I have left on this Earth ; )

This comment was edited on Jul 15, 2011, 01:58.
21.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 01:22
21.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 01:22
Jul 15, 2011, 01:22
 
the statistics show that 100% of the people working on these statistics are dickwads
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20.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 01:14
20.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 01:14
Jul 15, 2011, 01:14
 
Why do companies insist on making news out of stupid remarks. This is as pointless as quoting Ebert when he opened his flabby trap to wag off some syllables regarding the art status of video games.
You can't make a measurement about the physical side of distribution unless you're citing the electronic side because one affects the other.
Half assed researchers doing just enough not to get fired.
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19.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 00:51
19.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 00:51
Jul 15, 2011, 00:51
 
Teddy wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:42:
StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:25:

Well there's nothing really special about the game that merits a $50 purchase, which I guess reflects in the low sales. I am more saying I disagree with reviews saying it's a bad game... for what it wants to be it's pretty well done.

Disagreed 100%. It was an awful game. Boring as hell, straight "follow the dotted line" game with nothing interesting in it to make it worth $10 much less $50. It shat on it's predecessor almost as bad as DNF did.

Hey there we go, where was this in June?
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18.
 
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June
Jul 15, 2011, 00:42
18.
Re: Videogame Physical Sales Down 10% in June Jul 15, 2011, 00:42
Jul 15, 2011, 00:42
 
StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 15, 2011, 00:25:

Well there's nothing really special about the game that merits a $50 purchase, which I guess reflects in the low sales. I am more saying I disagree with reviews saying it's a bad game... for what it wants to be it's pretty well done.

Disagreed 100%. It was an awful game. Boring as hell, straight "follow the dotted line" game with nothing interesting in it to make it worth $10 much less $50. It shat on it's predecessor almost as bad as DNF did.
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