wisp
14-07-2007, 09:42 AM
New York - Nearly 1 million copies of the top-seller "World of Warcraft" PC game in 2005 still wasn't enough to swing domestic retail sales of computer games from its slide to below $1bn, a research firm said on Tuesday.
As online gaming picked up in popularity, annual US retail sales of PC game software sank 14% to $953m last year, down from $1.1bn in 2004, according to data by the NPD Group.
Overall volume totaled 38m units, a 19% decline from 47m units the year before, NPD said.
The research group attributed the dwindling volume - which reflects only games sold on CD-ROMs - to increased game play through websites and subscriptions to massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games.
"While we have seen retail sales of PC games decrease for several years now, we know from talking to consumers about their online gaming behaviours that playing games on the PC, whether it's via online casual sites or through MMO subscription play, has been increasing," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Following Vivendi Universal's top-selling "World of Warcraft" title, with more than 957 000 units sold last year, were Electronic Arts Inc's "The Sims 2: University Expansion Pack," with 574 000 units, and "The Sims 2," with 559 000 units
www.news24.com
As online gaming picked up in popularity, annual US retail sales of PC game software sank 14% to $953m last year, down from $1.1bn in 2004, according to data by the NPD Group.
Overall volume totaled 38m units, a 19% decline from 47m units the year before, NPD said.
The research group attributed the dwindling volume - which reflects only games sold on CD-ROMs - to increased game play through websites and subscriptions to massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games.
"While we have seen retail sales of PC games decrease for several years now, we know from talking to consumers about their online gaming behaviours that playing games on the PC, whether it's via online casual sites or through MMO subscription play, has been increasing," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Following Vivendi Universal's top-selling "World of Warcraft" title, with more than 957 000 units sold last year, were Electronic Arts Inc's "The Sims 2: University Expansion Pack," with 574 000 units, and "The Sims 2," with 559 000 units
www.news24.com