Recent research from Inform suggests that the growth in games sales is showing no signs of abating.
Inform’s research indicates that the Australian interactive games market is looking at year to date growth of around 45 per cent.
In 2002, the interactive games market grew 28 per cent on the previous year.
Much of the growth was attributed to the aggressive marketing of games console manufacturers such as Sony with its Playstation 2 (PS2) and Microsoft (Xbox).
Inform analysts attributed the majority of the growth to the PS2, the sales of which increased substantially after a major price cut at the end of 2001, the introduction of sub-$50 titles in March 2002 and a host of ‘AAA’ titles.
Microsoft’s Xbox also looks promising for resellers. It sold 235,000 units in its first 11 months, compared to the 205,000 PS2 units Sony sold in its comparative launch period.
The good news doesn’t end with consoles, however, with Inform pointing out the PC games titles still account for 31 per cent of games sold in February 2003.
These figures were bolstered by the usual gain in sales over the Christmas period as well as the release of Electronic Art’s hotly anticipated release, Command and Conquer: Generals, Inform said.