Sign in / up

back to article Video game sales hit three-year low in US

US video game sales took a 23 per cent tumble in May compared to the previous year, dropping below the $1bn sales mark for the first time since August 2007. Recession was fingered as the root cause of the slump by the number-crunchers at NPD Group, although there's certainly other variables at play. Total industry sales - …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. tom 24
    Thumb Down

    "Established Franchises"

    "June 2009 may be looking up with the release of good number of games based on established franchises"

    Games with recognizable brand names and boring gameplay are our best sellers? And they blame it on the economy. Thanks EA.

    0 0
  2. Ian 11

    No suprise

    It was a weak month for games, just look at the titles listed. UFC was about the only thing that came out and all the Wii titles are ancient.

    There weren't any real new AAA releases for that month so people cutting spending has nothing to do with it. If there's nothing new worth buying how can they expect decent sales figures?

    0 0
  3. armyknife
    Alien

    The Answer is in the game's name

    Less to do with an economic downturn and more to do with this; how many of the games listed are new, rather than just another exercise in milking a franchise/series.

    *Pirate because I'd guess a lot of people cant even be bothered to steal Gridiron 09 etc.

    0 0
  4. blem wit
    Stop

    Sure, blame economy...

    ...not the horrible games that have been shoved down players throats.

    Does anyone remeber a single awesome game being released this year?

    0 0
  5. Colin Wilson
    Happy

    Pre-orders ?

    I wonder how far up the rank Natural Selection 2 would be based on pre-orders...

    Something like 97% of all purchasers went for the more expensive "Special Edition" variant at $40 rather than $20 for the standard release.

    That's some going for an as-yet unreleased successor to the original free Half-Life mod, which holds the title of "my most played game" - far outstripping my time with Elite (I got to "Deadly") and Frontier (yes, i'm an old-b'stard !)

    http://www.naturalselection2.com

    "I liked the original so much, I bought the Special Edition"

    0 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Last Year

    Last year didnt they say that sales where at its highest because of the number of people getting into gaming now?

    0 0
  7. A 20

    Another no news shocker

    No decent games released = no decent games sales figures.

    I haven't bought anything in months, because there's nothing I can see that I want.

    For some reason "rehashed EA franchise #409" still isn't appealing.

    0 0
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RE: sure, blame the economy

    I'd say street fighter 4 , little big planet (was that 2009 too ?)

    tbh, too many FPS , I just keep downloading these demos ... and realising I have been there 250 times already.

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like