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Online and mobile games push US market above $1 billion in April

Traditional software sales plummet 42 percent

Online and mobile games push US market above $1 billion in April
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US consumers spent over $1 billion on videogames in April, according to the latest estimate by the NPD Group.

It's the first time NPD has taken the entire US games market – including digital-only formats like mobile and social – into consideration over a single month.

Software sales made up $292.1 million of the industry's overall $630.4 million of traditional 'boxed' sales – a figure that also includes games hardware and accessories.

But when digital sales such as downloads, rentals, DLC, subscriptions, social network games, and mobile games are accounted for, the US total consumer spend on videogames surpassed $1 billion.

What goes up...

Boxed software sales fell by 42 percent in April. But NPD's Anita Frazier noted that digital sales fared better, with virtual currency and pre-paid time cards seeing a significant rise.

"For some insight into digital purchasing of content, we can look at the performance of points and subscription cards which was up 75 percent in units over last April," said Frazier.

The old industry isn't dead yet, though. Indeed NPD sounded an optimistic note regarding the performance of the Nintendo 3DS.

"One thing to keep in mind is that the 3DS has outsold the DS by about one million units in their respective first 14 months in the market, and the DS went on to become the best-selling gaming hardware system ever," Frazier said.

[source: MCV]

Tom Worthington
Tom Worthington
Fresh out of the packaging, Tom joins Pocket Gamer with a chip on his shoulder and a degree in Journalism. Naively, Tom believes there's a star-studded career in video games and has penned words across the internet in between praying to the almighty Nintendo gods.