It’s strange that among the constantly surfacing reminders of our failing economy that this new record for videogame sales emerges. In 2008, videogames made $21 billion in the United States, with almost a quarter of that number coming from December sales.
Here’s the breakdown for the software side, whic totalled $11.7 billion last year:
- console games total: $8.9 billion
- portable games total: $2.1 billion
- PC games total: 701 million
That makes 298 million games sold in 2008. Gamesindustry says that over half were rated Everyone 10+. In fact, Mature rated titles only accounted for 15.9 percent of the year’s total.
I almost feel bad talking about how well the games industry is doing. I’d almost say that I’m in the right industry right now, but I’ve known too many in my field that have lost their jobs recently to say that. And that goes for the game makers, too. Where is all of this money going?
