According to DFC Intelligence, the digital sales market for games will hit $81 billion in 2016. Already at $66 billion in 2010, digital sales are expected to surpass retail by 2013, with total worldwide sales of online games are expected to increase from $19.3 billion in 2010 to $37.9 billion by 2016.
“On a global basis it looks like retail delivery of physical software peaked in 2008,” said DFC’s David Cole. “We expect a slow, steady decline for physical game sales, with a steady increase for online delivery of games and new business models such as subscriptions and virtual item sales.”
“Systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are having their best sales ever five or six years into their lifecycle,” he added. “Unfortunately this means Microsoft and Sony are in no hurry to launch new systems that would generate substantial consumer excitement and spending,” says Cole. “The dedicated console business is still the major driver of industry growth, but we feel overall it has peaked with the current console systems.”
While new categories, like social gaming, are growing right now DFC theorizes that these add to the industry and do not take away from consoles. “Games on Facebook and products like the iPad help expand the audience and the way products are delivered. The console business is firmly established and suffers mainly from the reluctance of hardware manufacturers to commit to expensive new products,” added Cole. “Overall the game industry is becoming more diversified and global as it continues to grow. This makes the industry challenging because it is hard to know where to place one’s bets. At the same time, there are many niches of opportunity that didn’t exist in the past.”
Source: dfcint.com
