UK to Overtake Japan as #2 Games Market
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: uk, japan, video, game, market | Themes: Digital Entertainment
The land of PlayStation and Mario is going to be third in the video game market this year.
According to a worldwide market report by MCV, the United Kingdom is set to take the number two spot in the video game market rankings away from Japan in 2009.
In 2008, the United States reigned supreme with a total market value of around USD $21 billion. Japan and the UK came in second and third with values of approx. $6.43 billion and $5.7 billion, respectively. While Japan had the lead in 2008, the game changer lies in market growth. The U.S. saw a 19 percent growth over 2007, and the UK saw an 18 percent jump, Japan's market has stumbled 15 percent. The sharp contrast in growth (or lack thereof), combined with the relatively small margin between the two markets lead many to believe the Land of the Rising Sun will fall the third.
While growth is always good, the market is slowing down considerably. The U.S. market grew 43 percent between 2006 and 2007, a far larger number than between '07 and '08. The three markets combined saw an overall growth of ten percent over 2007.
The report also included the top five selling gaming software titles for 2008. In the U.S., Wii Play, Madden 2009 and Grand Theft Auto IV rounded out the top three with 5.28 million, 5.25 million and 5.22 million units sold, respectively. FIFA 2009 took top honors in the UK, and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd Generation outsold the rest in Japan with 2.5 million.
Take a look at the entire report for yourself here.
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I hope this means all the Europeans will get more expedient release dates. I find it annoying that we Americans get everything first, while out European brethren get treated like second class gamers.
When you say "Japan's market has stumbled 15 percent" do you mean the market only grew 15% or the market was 15% lower then last year?
I hope this means all the Europeans will get more expedient release dates. I find it annoying that we Americans get everything first, while out European brethren get treated like second class gamers.
Thanks for your consideration!
A slight advantage of asymmetrical releases is that Europe can fall back on the US' hands on experiences and maybe avoid overhyped lemons. Not, that it would really work in general, because usually people still want to be disappointed in person.
Also, with PC games, the obvious advantage of a belated release is that Patch #1 is oftentimes already available at launch. In this case, the US could be seen as beta testers.
Which country is the #1 in pirated games?
Which country is the #1 in pirated games?
China.
Software piracy runs rampant in countries where computers are becoming (but are not quite yet) commonplace. By percentage, Latin America has much higher rates of piracy, but China has more people.
I love gettings my games before stinky euro trash. =] I'm only half joking you bunch of silly blokes over the pond.