Video game sales down in 2010, but Xbox 360 sets record

By Aemon Malone January 14, 2011

It was another year of declining sales for the gaming industry. Video games sales fell for the second straight year in 2010, according to a new report by the NPD Group.

Sales of gaming hardware, software and accessories totaled $18.6 billion in 2010. That’s a 5.7 percent drop from $19.7 billion in 2009, and a further decline from 2008’s figure of $21.4 billion.

Console sales in 2010 fell to $6.3 billion, a 12.5 percent decline from 2009. Software sales reached $9.4 billion, a 5.6 percent decline from 2009.

There were a few bright spots, however. Sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 actually rose in 2010 — the only console to show a gain from its 2009 figures. The holidays were particularly good to the Xbox 360. The five-year old console posted its best sales month ever in December with a 1.86 million units sold, a 42 percent increase from December of 2009.

The Xbox 360’s rebirth can be mostly attributed to the success of the motion-sensing controller Kinect, which launched in early November. Microsoft says that it sold 8 million Kinect units during the accessory’s first 60 days on the market. The Kinect and the Playstation’s Move fueled a 13 percent increase in sales of gaming accessories in 2010.

PC games also were up slightly in 2010, with a 3 percent increase in sales from 2009.

The NPD Group expects that 2011 will likely be kinder to the gaming industry. The report cites the explosion of mobile games and social media-based games as key players in the gaming industry’s future.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gaming

PlayStation Spring Sale: best deals, how long is the sale, and more

With the rise of all-digital consoles, more and more people are doing a majority of their game shopping on digital storefronts. For PlayStation 5 owners, whether you have a disk drive or not, you more than likely have at least a couple of games purchased from the PlayStation Store. The convenience of simply downloading a game and not having to worry about the disk is great, but you also can catch some amazing deals. The biggest sales events come seasonally, and the current Spring Sale is offering deep discounts of up to 90% on some of the biggest games on the platform. If you've been waiting to pick up one of the great games you missed earlier this year or in years past, now might be the best time to snag it for cheap!
When is the PlayStation Spring Sale 2024?
The PlayStation Spring Sale started on March 27, 2024, but new deals were added on April 10 that will last until April 24.

If any deal is exclusively for a PS5 version of a game that is also on PS4, we will note that beside the title. Since all PS4 games run on PS5, we won't mark PS4 games.
Best deals for the PlayStation Spring Sale
God of War Ragnarök Sony Interactive Entertainment

Gaming

The best video game movies of all time

Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu

For as long as video games have existed, film producers have adapted them for the big screen. The rationale behind these decisions is clear, as big-name video game properties have the potential to bring a lot of fans into the theater. But they have seen limited success over the years.

Some video game movie adaptations have managed to capture the spirit of their source material and deliver an exciting take on the franchise. Others, however, have treated the video games as a vague reference point, resulting in underwhelming films that disappointed the average moviegoer, as well as longtime players.

Gaming

All upcoming video game movies: release dates, development details, and rumors

The cast of Borderlands.

Video game adaptations are on a hot streak. Films like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were massive box office hits, while series like The Last Of Us and Halo have made for stellar TV shows.

While there have been some great video game movies, some have failed to capture the true spirit of a game on film. Luckily, more effort and resources are being poured into new adaptations given the success of the projects mentioned above — we're starting to see more and more video game films in the works and the overall quality appears to have hit a massive spike in recent years. With so many great video game franchises, every gamer believes their favorite game should be the next one to get a film.