Retail

US games spending hits $4.5 billion in Q2

Wed 05 Oct 2011 3:19pm GMT / 11:19am EDT / 8:19am PDT
RetailFinance

Used sales and digital business models drive 1 per cent y-o-y increase

Total spending in the games industry in the US hit $4.5 billion in the second quarter, according to new data from the NPD Group.

NPD's Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend report shows that $1.44 billion was spent on new, physical video and PC games.

A further $1.74 billion was spent on used games, rentals, digital downloads, subscriptions, social networks, DLC and mobile games. The remaining $1.32 billion was spent on hardware and accessories.

Overall, spending increased by 1 per cent over the same quarter last year, which NPD attribute s to the growing number of alternatives to new, physical retail.

"While the new physical retail channel still generates the majority of industry sales, our expanded research coverage allows us to assess the total consumer spend across the growing number of ways to acquire and experience gaming," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

In August, NPD announced plans to track digital commerce in Europe, with the first reports expected early next year.

About the author

Matthew Handrahan
Matthew Handrahan joined GamesIndustry in 2011, bringing long-form feature-writing experience to the team as well as a deep understanding of the video game development business. He previously spent more than five years at award-winning magazine gamesTM.

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