A list of terms and abbreviations used in the gaming industry and what they mean.
- CY - the standard calendar year going from January 1 to December 31
- E3 - w:Electronic Entertainment Expo, a major game conference that takes place in July
- Fiscal year - a business year for a company. e.g. April 1 to March 31
- GDC - w:Game Developers Conference, a major game conference that takes place in February
- HW - Hardware. See also: SW
- Install base - The number of people owning a particular game system
- LTD - launch to date or lifetime to date - refers to game or console sales from its initial release to present date
- NPD - NPD Group, a marketing research firm that tracks video game sales in the United States
- SKU - "Stock keeping unit", a distinct product (example1: an SKU each for Halo and Halo Collectors Edition. example2: an SKU for Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3 and another for the Xbox 360 version.
- Software tie ratio (attach rate) - how many games a system owner buys on average
- SW - Software. See also: HW
- Timed exclusive - a video game that releases on one console exclusively for a short period of time and then releases on a competing system.
- WW - worldwide; often seen as 30m units sold WW
- YOY - a year over year comparison e.g. comparing 2008 fiscal year with 2007 fiscal year.
- YTD - year to date - refers to game or console sales from the beginning of the year to present date.