The video game market seems to be as strong as ever. Through the years 2002-2006 the video game industry grew 5.7% while the movie industry fell 0.3% and the music industry fell 11.6%. Nate Anderson of arstechnica.com says:
“If we look at worldwide numbers, we see that the video gaming market (not including hardware) is projected to grow by more than 100 percent in the ten years from 2002-2011[1]."
The gaming industry is expected to grow even more in the next several years according to Dean Takahashi of venturebeat.com:
“ (DFC Intelligence) estimates that games were a $60.4 billion business in 2009. So, over five years, the game industry will grow just 16 percent[2].”
Despite these predictions made in early 2010, the full year of 2010 ended up being a fairly terrible year for the majority of the industry.
“However, for most of the industry, 2010 couldn't end fast enough[3].”
It is not all of the video game business that is suffering, however; the Call of Duty franchise’s most recent release, “Black Ops,” broke entertainment records. Besides traditional console gaming, which costs around $60 per new game, gamers can now purchase (for pennies on the dollar, compared to console games), or even get for free, gaming ‘apps’ for their portable telephones. It may just be that with the introduction of such high quality portable gaming options at far lower prices, people aren’t as willing to purchase a game for around $60 unless they are sure it will be good. Perhaps the novelty of playing simple games on a phone will lose its value in coming years; but as of now, it appears that, despite projections, the gaming industry could be in for a tough several years.
[1] Anderson, Nate. “Video Gaming To Be Twice As Big As Music By 2011.” Arstechnica.com. Ars Technica. 30 August 2007. Web. 19 January 2011.
[2] Takahashi, Dean. “Video Game Industry To Hit $70 Billion by 2015, But Growth Will Be Slow.” Venturebeat.com. GamesBeat. 25 May 2010. Web. 19 January 2011.
[3] AP. “2010 A Tough Year For Video Game Industry.” localtechwire.com. Local Tech Wire. 14 January 2011. Web. 19 January 2011.
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