Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 help Industry rake in $40 Billion in 2007
Thanks in large part to Nintendo’s Wii and DS, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PSP, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the video games industry as a whole made over $40 billion dollars.
Strong sales of both the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS helped make this the most profitable year in the history of the industry with strong sales throughout the year that was, and showing complete dominance during the holiday shopping season. Sony’s PlayStation Portable did well in the past year, which helped to sooth the blow from the disappointing PlayStation 3 sales, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold very well when you consider much of 2007 was spent with both reviewers and consumers complaining about the dreaded Red Ring of Death.
However, the big sellers in 2007 were the games, and most of those games were released between August and November. Sequels to well-established franchises like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Madden NFL 08, and Guitar Hero III helped their publishers turn monster profits. In fact, the top ten selling games of 2007 were all sequels to established franchises. The first truly “new†franchise was Harmonix’s Rock Band, which placed 11th, which still managed to sell 311,900 units in November alone. An impressive feat when you consider the $170 price tag.
Unfortunately for those who are keeping track of the “Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero III†war, Activision’s Guitar Hero III sold ten-times better during the same time span, selling over 3 million units. While industry insiders expected Guitar Hero III to be a success, the level of success caught everyone by surprise. Even Activision who, with the combined success of Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4, has updated their revenue forecasts from $1.22 billion to $1.35 billion.
And the best part? With games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Metal Gear Solid 4 all due in the new year, 2008 could be even more profitable. And in the end, doesn’t that make us all winners?
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3 Responses to “Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 help Industry rake in $40 Billion in 2007”
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January 2nd, 2008
If you’re only considering the gaming industry and how it’s doing compared to the rest of the industry in the market – yes it’s doing amazing. As for each of the separate consoles, we’ll see a big boost in ps3 sales as games such as MGS 4, Haze, Killzone 2, HOME (Playstation Network), LittleBigPlanet, and possibly Final Fantasy XIII come out. I don’t see too much of a future for xbox 360 except for Halo Wars and I’m in doubt that Gears of War 2 will come out since Unreal Tournament 3 is expected for the 360 somewhere around Spring 2008. All the other games coming out for xbox 360 are coming to the ps3 as well. Wii is getting Super Smash Bros Brawl so it will do well as well. PSP is going to do amazing this year due to games like God of War: Chains of Olympus, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, and others. In conclusion the game industry is a big hit.
January 3rd, 2008
customers will win even more once prices for consoles go down even more.
January 17th, 2008
lol.. yeah xbox 360 has nothing good for 2008… lawl.. shadowpal2, NPD released there yearly charts.. and 360 topped wii and ps3, Xbox 360 won 2007 with $4.8 billion in total consumer spend compared to Wii with $3.5 billion and PlayStation 3 with $2.2 billion.
Sony lost out huge on GTA, while 360 is getting exclusive downloadable content, yes put your ego away.. you wont get it fanboy. =)