New games claim just 59% of market

A preview of NPD’s upcoming Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend Report has revealed that boxed, new game releases now account for just 59 per cent of the total video games market in North America.

The report found that in the first half of 2010 US consumers spent $3.7bn on new, boxed PC and console games.

In contrast, between $2.6bn and $2.9bn was spent on other monetisation methods”, which includes pre-owned sales, digital purchases, rentals, subscriptions, DLC, mobile games and social network games.

While the new physical retail channel still generates the majority of industry sales, our expanded research coverage allows us to assess the total consumer spend across the growing number of ways to acquire and experience gaming, including social networks,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Through a combination of point-of-sale and consumer research tracking, The NPD Group is providing an expanded, more comprehensive measure of a dynamic and rapidly changing games industry.”