The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that computer and video game software sales reached a record-breaking $9.5 billion in 2007, a 28% gain over the previous year. Game sales contributed to an $18.8 billion year for the industry on the whole. The top seller of the year was Microsoft’s Halo 3, which, in its first day at retail, grossed more than the blockbuster Spider-Man 3 did during its record-breaking opening weekend. The game also topped first-day sales of the final book in the Harry Potter series.
‘The video game industry set the pace over all others in 2007, with record-breaking sales, off-the-charts consumer demand, and innovation reaching from galactic exploration to guitar simulation,’ says ESA president and CEO Michael D. Gallagher. ‘On average, an astonishing nine games were sold every second of every day of the year.’
Citing data compiled by the NPD Group, a global market information company that measures product movement and consumer behavior across a broad range of industries, the ESA says approximately 267.8 million video games were sold last year. Overall U.S. video game console software sales reached $6.6 billion (153.9 million units), PC sales hit $910.7 million (36.4 million units), and a record $2 billion (77.5 million units) was earned in portable software sales to accompany the more than 13.4 million portable game units sold.
The casual game boom coupled with the popularity of the Wii console and such party games as Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero contributed to an expansion of the gaming demographic. ‘NPD’s consumer demographic data verifies that two non-traditional consumer groups grew over-proportionately to the whole: females and individuals over the ages of 35,’ says Anita Frazier, industry analyst for The NPD Group. The organization also found that sales of games in the family entertainment category grew 110% in 2007, making up about 17.2% of total sales.
