Dec. 2011, annual NPD - software, hardware, industry and analysis

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Wii: 1.06 Million

Annual 2011 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)

Rank Publisher

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)** 1 Activision Blizzard
Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) 2 Ubisoft
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)** 3 Bethesda Softworks
Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** 4 Electronic Arts
Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)** 5 Electronic Arts
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)** 6 Activision Blizzard
Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)** 7 Warner Bros. Interactive
Gears of War 3 (360)** 8 Microsoft
Just Dance 2 (Wii) 9 Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC) 10 Ubisoft

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Dollar Sales Dec '10 Dec'11 CHG Annual 2010 Annual 2011 CHG

Total Video Game Sales (New Physical Channel) $5.07B $3.99B -21% $18.59B $17.02B -8%
Video Games Hardware $1.84B $1.32B -28% $6.29B $5.58B -11%
Video Games Software (Console+Portable - New Physical Sales only) $2.37B $2.04B -14% $9.36B $8.83B -6%
Video Games Accessories $863.5MM $628.7MM -27% $2.95B $2.61B -11%
Total Software Sales - (Console+Portable+PC - New Physical Sales Only) $2.53B $2.14B -15% $10.06B $9.27B -8%

PORT WASHINGTON, NY, January 12, 2012 – According to leading market research company, The NPD Group, the preliminary estimate* for total consumer spend on gaming content via all monetization methods, including new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is between $16.3 to $16.6 billion. This total consumer spend on games content in 2011, which includes both physical and digital formats, represents sales that are down approximately 2 percent when compared to 2010. Based on this estimate, spending on new physical content at retail continues to account for the majority of the total consumer spend on games content. U.S. retail sales of new physical video game content, which includes portable, console and PC game software, generated revenues of $9.3 billion, an 8 percent decline over the $10.1 billion generated in 2010. Bright spots came from HD console software sales, which were up 9 percent in 2011, as well as increases in the consumer spend on used games sales, full-game digital downloads and downloadable content, and mobile gaming apps, which partially offset declines in the other areas of consumer spend on content. “Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming. Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Our overall estimate of the market continues to point toward the increased imperative for deeper visibility into digital distribution than is available today, not only in the U.S. but globally. This is the goal of our partnership with EEDAR, and central to our discussions with publishers and others in the gaming community,” said David McQuillan, president, Games at The NPD Group.

December industry totals

- dropped by 21% to $3.99 billion
- Hardware was down 28%
- software was down by 14%
- year-end total for 2011 came to $17.02 billion, down 8% from 2010's $18.59 billion
- full year hardware and accessories were each down 11% and software declined six percent
- NPD's latest Total Consumer Spend report (not including hardware) shows sales around $16.3 to $16.6 billion for 2011
- spending on new physical content at retail including portable, console and PC game software, generated revenues of $9.3 billion
- increases in the consumer spend on used games sales, full-game digital downloads and downloadable content, and mobile gaming apps

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