The NPD’s Q1 2012 Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report saw physical game sales at $1.5 billion, used and rental at $525 million and digital content sales at $1.38 billion. For the U.K., France and Germany used and retail was at $300 million and digital was $959 million in sales during Q1 2012.
“The declines in the physical market for new physical software are well documented,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “But, a broader view of the games industry shows that other physical content sales (the combination of used and rental) declined by just five percent and digital format content sales grew by 10 percent as compared to Q1 2011. While the growth in digital format sales does not yet offset the declines in physical format sales, clearly the changes occurring within the industry are reflected in the trends we are seeing in the research.”
“Relative to the spend in the U.S., we find that the consumer spend on mobile games is still developing in the three European countries we are covering, while the spend on full game and add-on content digital downloads and subscriptions is more highly developed,” said Frazier.
