Future NPD reports to include monthly digital sales data
US group acknowledges difficulty in creating proper valuations in a growing digital market
The NPD Group has told GamesIndustry.biz that it is working towards including digital sales data in its monthly reports.
Video game publishers have been critical of NPD stats as digital formats grow, with EA going so far as stating that the data it releases to the public is a "a misrepresentation of the entire industry".
But the NPD's Anita Frazier told GamesIndustry.biz that it has been making further investment in its online consumer panels and intends to increase the frequency of its digital reports - which also include revenue from subscriptions, DLC, mobile, social and rental businesses - from quarterly to monthly.
It will become increasingly challenging for the financial community to create proper valuations of companies in the absence of an objective third-party source covering the entire market
Anita Frazier, NPD Group.
"We are expanding the number of digital retailers we have relationships with in order to develop a digital POS (point of sale) service," said Frazier.
"The goal is to provide our clients with a total POS games tracking service that incorporates the growing digital channel as well as the currently predominant physical format, and to deliver this at the same frequency as we currently do for new physical retail sales (monthly)."
NPD estimates that boxed retail sales still account for 60 per cent of the US market, but it also acknowledges that current sales reporting does not paint the full picture. Frazier said she also expects publishers and digital distributors themselves to be more open with their digital sales figures in the future.
"We expect it to happen, especially as digital grows to become a larger portion of the consumer's overall spend.
"It will become increasingly challenging for the financial community to create proper valuations of companies in the absence of an objective third-party source covering the entire market, and it will be harder for companies to manage their businesses and resources without visibility into all forms of distribution."