Industry Stays Flat For November But PC Skyrockets

[Andy Chalk]

Industry Stays Flat For November But PC Skyrockets

The U.S. videogame industry stayed effectively flat for November, as reduced hardware sales were offset by strong software sales and a huge leap in boxed PC games.

It's not looking like the best holiday season ever for the videogame industry but it shouldn't be a complete train wreck either, according to the NPD, which released numbers today indicating a year-over-year decline of 0.5 percent in the U.S. videogame market for November. Hardware sales are down nine percent, sliding from $1.08 billion last year to $982.4 million this year, while peripheral sales crashed a whopping 34 percent, a decline "probably largely explained" by the launch of Kinect last year.

On the upside, software sales for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were strong for the month, with Skyrim [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00503E8S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323709052&sr=8-1]. Modern Warfare 3 sold 8.99 million units across all formats in November, dwarfing the numbers of the second-place Skyrim, which put out 2.8 million units.

Rather strangely, PC boxed retail sales saw a huge increase, jumping an amazing 57 percent year-over-year. Sales details weren't released but the launch of the PC-centric [relatively speaking] Battlefield 3 and Skyrim in fairly close proximity to one another seems the most likely explanation.

On the other side of the coin, Wii game sales continued to slide, dropping another 28 percent, but the discounted 3DS managed to keep handheld sales almost flat, holding the line at just a one percent decline.

Cowen and Co. predicted that December wouldn't be much better for the industry, calling for a "mid-single digit" year-over-year shrinkage due to shrinking Wii and handheld sales, which in past years have driven sales for the month. "[This is] due in part to a tough comp versus the launch of Epic Mickey [http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Epic-Mickey-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002I0GEXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323709336&sr=8-1] last year, and in part because December sales tend to weigh more heavily towards the Wii/handheld platforms, where overall sales trends are worse," the firm wrote. "However, we believe that sales on the Xbox 360/PS3 platforms will once again be up double digits."

Source: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-12-12-15-percent-climb-in-physical-sales-keeps-us-industry-flat]


Permalink

 

[SonicWaffle]

Rather strangely, PC boxed retail sales saw a huge increase, jumping an amazing 57 percent year-over-year. Sales details weren't released but the launch of the PC-centric [relatively speaking] Battlefield 3 and Skyrim in fairly close proximity to one another seems the most likely explanation.

I seem to recall being told that Skyrim was developed for the Xbox? Possibly whoever told me was lying, of course.

Don't know about Battlefield 3, I've only played on my flatmate's PS3 and the bloody awkward controller kept getting me killed, so maybe it is better on PC

 

[unacomn]

By Jove, could it be that the release of games people would want to play on their PC has caused a surge in PC sales? Who'd have thought.

 

[Cronq]

PC gaming is dying...

Perhaps this is really those 7 year old consoles starting to die.

 

[Jandau]

PC sales have been high for quite a while, but Digital Distribution is hardly ever counted in the statistics. Though, to be fair that's mostly because both the distributors and the publishers are a bit tight lipped. However, trying to gauge the PC market by boxed sales alone when almost every price-savvy PC gamer is buying from STEAM and other such services is just silly...

 

[Li Mu]

Anyone else notice how the PC has been 'dying' for the past 8 or 9 years?

 

[SonicWaffle]

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/happilydyingsince1985.png
As long as there are RTS and RPGs there will be PC gamers.

Might need to update the image at the bottom right

 

[Lordmarkus]

Excuse my apparent cynicism but isn't sales of boxed PC-games in the US rather low? Because a 57 % increase from nothing is still nothing. You know, just to be sure before I start dancing on tables singing "Suck it consoles".

However, trying to gauge the PC market by boxed sales alone when almost every price-savvy PC gamer is buying from STEAM and other such services is just silly...

Buying new PC games from Steam isn't what I would call "price-savvy". Here in the Euro-zone it is often 20-30 % more expensive to buy new on Steam compared to a boxed copy from internet.

 

[SonicWaffle]

PC gaming is dying...

Perhaps this is really those 7 year old consoles starting to die.

Death is part of a console's life cycle. Unlike PC (or like PC I suppose, but at least a PC can be upgraded to stay with the times), they're only supposed to last a few years, then they get replaced.

Can't be long now. Didn't some guy from Microsoft say the 360 had a couple of years left in it, roughly a couple of years ago?

 

[Absolutionis]

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/happilydyingsince1985.png
As long as there are RTS and RPGs there will be PC gamers.

Might need to update the image at the bottom right

Hah yeah. May as well replace it with Deus Ex or Skyrim or something.

Ah well, it's sad to have my preferred platform of gaming be dying for as long as I've been alive, but I'll live.

 

[Jandau]

Excuse my apparent cynicism but isn't sales of boxed PC-games in the US rather low? Because a 57 % increase from nothing is still nothing. You know, just to be sure before I start dancing on tables singing "Suck it consoles".

However, trying to gauge the PC market by boxed sales alone when almost every price-savvy PC gamer is buying from STEAM and other such services is just silly...

Buying new PC games from Steam isn't what I would call "price-savvy". Here in the Euro-zone it is often 20-30 % more expensive to buy new on Steam compared to a boxed copy from internet.

That's why you wait for Steam's deals which drop the price bellow what a boxed copy would set you back. Also, way to miss the point (which is that PC market has a large Digital Distribution segment that is largely ignored in statistics).

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/happilydyingsince1985.png
As long as there are RTS and RPGs there will be PC gamers.

As a PC gamer i'm going to have to agree that PC gaming isn't dead.

As a person who wants to makes sure people know the facts I can tell you that the U.S. PC gaming industry revenue has gone down by %50 in the past 10 years.
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/PC_gaming

WOW has lost a million players and League of Legends is more popular.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2 has been cancelled and the developer GSC is closed.

The Witcher 2 has been pirated 4.5 million times. (and this is after Spore was the most pirated game ever at 500 thousand in 2007)

My point is while PC Gaming isn`t dead, it has been very, very diminished.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Ah well, it's sad to have my preferred platform of gaming be dying for as long as I've been alive, but I'll live.

I've never really understood allure of PC gaming, personally, apart from an RTS or point-and-click that just doesn't work on console. Consoles are so much easier; put the disc in, play with a controller moulded to your hand rather than fiddly keyboard & mouse set-up, and that's all apart from the occasional patch.

As far as I'm concerned, my PC is just a magic box that makes porn happen

 

[Richard Allen]

Rather strangely, PC boxed retail sales saw a huge increase, jumping an amazing 57 percent year-over-year. Sales details weren't released but the launch of the PC-centric [relatively speaking] Battlefield 3 and Skyrim in fairly close proximity to one another seems the most likely explanation.

I seem to recall being told that Skyrim was developed for the Xbox? Possibly whoever told me was lying, of course.

Don't know about Battlefield 3, I've only played on my flatmate's PS3 and the bloody awkward controller kept getting me killed, so maybe it is better on PC

All fps's are better on pc =P The mouse is a hell of a tool.

 

[Lordmarkus]

Excuse my apparent cynicism but isn't sales of boxed PC-games in the US rather low? Because a 57 % increase from nothing is still nothing. You know, just to be sure before I start dancing on tables singing "Suck it consoles".

However, trying to gauge the PC market by boxed sales alone when almost every price-savvy PC gamer is buying from STEAM and other such services is just silly...

Buying new PC games from Steam isn't what I would call "price-savvy". Here in the Euro-zone it is often 20-30 % more expensive to buy new on Steam compared to a boxed copy from internet.

That's why you wait for Steam's deals which drop the price bellow what a boxed copy would set you back. Also, way to miss the point (which is that PC market has a large Digital Distribution segment that is largely ignored in statistics).

So you're telling me to wait for 6 months for a steam sale where they cut 50 % of the price so it will become the same as I paid at launch? Madness.

I never implied that PC games sales were low. I know that digital distribution is bigger than boxed sales. The news however concerns the boxed copies, which I asked if they are high or low in general. I can't start doing somersaults if PC games sales only grew from 100 000 to 157 000.

 

[SonicWaffle]

All fps's are better on pc =P The mouse is a hell of a tool.

Never understood that claim either. Maybe I'm just incredibly cack-handed (which, OK, I am) but I've always found using a mouse to be terribly imprecise. Especially once they start clogging up with dirt or your mousemat is too small for the wide sweeps you've been making with the mouse.

I find FPS much easier on consoles, presumably because there's some sort of auto-aim tweaking going on to make up for the general imprecision of a thumbstick. Plus, triggers! How can you play an FPS without a trigger, man? Just feels wrong to me

 

[Beryl77]

I wonder what the pc games sales are for digital distribution platforms are.