Game Sales Saw Double-Digit Growth in 2008

The Top Global Markets report on video game sales grew 11 percent in 2008 across the U.S., UK, and Japanese markets...despite a tanking economy.

Apparently, when the times get tough, the tough play…video games. A new Top Global Markets report that combines video game sales data from NPD, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbain covering the U.S., UK, and Japanese markets (respectively) found that overall sales of video games in 2008 were up 11 percent—and this despite a fairly sharp drop in Japanese sales and a global economic downturn.

Overall sales in the three markets totaled up to 409.9 million units, compared with 367.7 million during 2007. The Japanese market was actually down 13 percent, which the report attributes to a shrinking PS2 market and a “decline in portable software.” The UK led the way in sales growth, with a 26 percent increase over 2007; the U.S. showed a 15 percent sales jump.

According to the report, the top-selling games for the year were Mario Kart Wii,Wii Fit,Grand Theft Auto IV,Super Smash Bros: Brawl, and Call of Duty: World at War. It’s worth noting that three of those five titles are exclusive to the Nintendo Wii console.

The figures also indicate the UK has now overtaken Japan as the second largest market for video games in the world; the U.S. remains the largest market. The UK market saw a 38 percent increase in console sales and a 6 percent increase in portable gaming unit sales during 2008, where the United States saw increases of 22 and 2 percent, respectively.