PS4 and Xbox One to Bring Industry to $86.9 Billion
Video games in the U.S. saw its first increase in two years when gaming products accounted for $521 million, giving it a raise of 1 percent in a four week span.
Games such as Disney's Infinity, Madden NFL 25, Saints Row IV, and now Grand Theft Auto V are among some of the reasons people are flocking to video games as a furry of very good releases are hitting the final days of the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Infinity by itself sold over 400,000 copies, for a total of $30 million.
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The numbers are expected to rise significantly once the Xbox One and PS4 debut in November, if people are still buying games even though they may be saving up for the next generation systems. This is a good sign for an industry that has been slumping the last few years because of the growing popularity of smart phone and tablet games along with indie free-to-play games/.
NPD industry tracker said video games hardware and software sales have fallen every month since January 2012 until this past August.
"The recent industry sales figures are more a reflection of typical late console cycle dynamics than the momentum of this medium," said Activision Blizzard's Publishing Chief Executive Eric Hirshberg to Reuters.
In 2012, video games made $63.4 billion globally. PricewaterhouseCoopers expects that number to jump to $86.9 billion in 2017.
The Xbox One and Playstation 4 are not just competing against each other; they are competing to see who keeps video games alive.
"Sony and Microsoft still have work to do in order to convince a broad consumer base that they need to spend $400 or $500 on new hardware, in addition to $60 for each new piece of software," R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said. "There doesn't seem to be as clear a reason to upgrade compared to prior cycles, which introduced DVDs, 3D and HD to consumers."
The Xbox One will be $499 while the Playstation 4 is set for a $399 release.
