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Video games in the United States

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See also: NPD sales data

Video games in the United States. Sales data is covered by NPD..

Total U.S. sales of Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

Overall United States video game market revenues from 1973 to 2013, adjusted for inflation (in 2012 dollars for years prior to 2012).
Blue - Arcade sector
Red - Consumer sector (incl. console, PC, handheld, mobile, tablet)
Green - Overall US market (all sectors)

NPD sales figures[edit | edit source]

Main article: NPD sales figures

Popular games[edit | edit source]

Biggest launches[edit | edit source]

See also: NPD Fastest selling games

Tidbits[edit | edit source]

  • According to Nintendo, the U.S. makes up approximately 85% of the Americas sales, which includes Latin America, Canada, and South America. Mexico is the top Latin American market for Nintendo, followed closely by Brazil. [28]

History of the US video game industry[edit | edit source]

Further information: NPD sales figures
See also: Video game industry for worldwide figures and Video games in Japan for Japan figures

These figures are for United States only. Some numbers may exclude/include PC games, arcade games, and/or mobile games.

Domestic US market[edit | edit source]

Year Video game market revenue Reference(s) Inflation-adjusted revenue (2012 dollars)[1]
2013 $17.39 billion
($15.39 billion consumer market)
($2 billion arcade market) 		[2] $17.39 billion
2012 $17.1 billion
($14.8 billion consumer market)
($2.3 billion arcade market) 		[3] $17.1 billion
2011 $16.6 billion NPD 2011 sales figures $17.5 billion
2010 $18.58 billion NPD 2010 sales figures $19.6 billion
2009 $19.66 billion NPD 2009 sales figures $21.04 billion
2008 $22 billion NPD 2008 sales figures $23.5 billion
2007 $18.85 billion NPD 2007 sales figures $20.9 billion
2006 $13.5 billion NPD 2006 sales figures $15.4 billion
2005 $11.5 billion (retail market) NPD 2005 sales figures $13.52 billion (retail market)
2004 $14.5 billion
($11 billion consumer market)
($3.5 billion arcade market) 		NPD 2004 sales figures $17.7 billion
($13.4 billion consumer market)
($4.3 billion arcade market)
2003 $11.923 billion (retail market)[4] NPD 2003 sales figures $14.9 billion (retail market)
2002 $14.1 billion
($12.4 billion retail)[5]
($1.7 billion arcade)[6] 		NPD 2002 sales figures $18.03 billion
($15.83 billion retail)
($2.2 billion arcade)
2001 $11.9 billion[7] (retail, incl. PC games)
(GC, GBA, XBX launches) 		[8][9] $15.43 billion (retail)
2000 $11 billion (retail)[7]
($6.6 billion retail, excl. PC games) 		[10] $14.7 billion (retail)
1999 $16.7 billion
($11 billion retail)[11]
($5.7 billion arcade)[12] 		[7][13] $23.1 billion
($15.2 billion retail)
($7.9 billion arcade)
1998 $8.9 billion (retail)[7] [14] $12.54 billion (retail)
1997 $14 billion
($7.5 billion retail)[7][15]
($6.5 billion arcade)[16] 		[17] $16.77 billion
($11.43 billion retail)
($9.91 billion arcade)
1996 $15 billion
($8 billion arcade)[18]
($7 billion retail)[19][7] 		[20] $21.95 billion
($11.71 billion arcade)
($10.24 billion retail)
1995 $12.7 billion
($7.9 billion retail)[21]
($4.8 billion arcade)[22] 		[23] $19.13 billion
($11.9 billion retail)
($7.23 billion arcade)
1994 $15.5 billion
($7 billion arcade)[24]
($8.5 billion retail)[25] 		$24.2 billion
($11 billion arcade)
($13.2 billion retail)
1993 $15.5 billion
($8 billion arcade)[26][27]
($7.5 billion retail)[28] 		$24.63 billion
($12.71 billion arcade)
($11.92 billion retail)
1992 $14.342 billion
($9 billion arcade)[29]
($5 billion console software)[30][31]
($342 million computer software)[32] 		$23.5 billion
($15 billion arcade)
($8.2 billion console software)
($560 million computer software)
1991 $8.1 billion
($6 billion retail)[33]
($2.1 billion arcade)[34]
(Arcade Renaissance begins with Street Fighter II) 		$13.7 billion
($10.11 billion retail)
($3.54 billion arcade)
1990 $10 billion
($5.1 billion retail, Nintendo 90%)
($4.9 billion arcade) 		[35][36][37]
[38][39] 		$17.57 billion
($8.96 billion retail)
($8.61 billion arcade)
1989 $11.4 billion
($7.9 billion arcade)
($3.5 billion retail) 		[40] $21.13 billion
($14.63 billion arcade)
$6.5 billion (retail)
1988 $9.9 billion
($6.4 billion arcade)
($3.5 billion retail)[41] 		[42][43] $19.21 billion
($12.42 billion arcade)
($6.79 billion retail)
1987 $1.162 billion (retail)
($1.1 billion console)[44][45]
($62 million computer software)[46] 		$2.35 billion (retail)
1986 $4.43 billion
($4 billion arcade)[47]
($430 million retail)[45][48] 		[42] $9.28 billion
($8.38 billion arcade)
($901 million retail)
1985 $4.6 billion
($4.5 billion arcade)[47]
($100 million retail)[49][50]
(NES and Super Mario Bros. begins market revival) 		[51] $9.8134 billion
($9.6 billion arcade)
($213.4 million retail)
1984 $5.3 billion
($4.5 billion arcade)[47]
($800 million retail)[52]
(Arcade Golden Age ends) 		$11.74 billion
($9.94 billion arcade)
($1.8 billion retail)
1983 $9.9 billion
($7.9 billion arcade)
($2 billion retail)[52]
(Video game crash of 1983) 		[47][53][54] $22.82 billion
($18.21 billion arcade)
($4.61 billion retail)
1982 $12.8-$15.6 billion
($9-$11.8 billion arcade)
($3.8 billion retail, Atari accounting for nearly 80%) 		[55][56][57][49] $30.45-$37.12 billion
($21.41-$28.07 billion arcade)
($9.04 billion retail)
1981 $10.5-$12.7 billion
($8-$10.2 billion arcade)
($1-$2.5 billion retail) 		[58][59][55][60] $26.52-$32.08 billion
($20.21-$25.76 billion arcade)
($2.53-$6.31 billion retail)
1980 $7.614 billion
($7.15 billion arcade)[47][55]
($464 million retail)[61] 		$21.22 billion
($19.92 billion arcade)
($1.3 billion retail)
1979 $1.88 billion
($1.5 billion arcade)[62][63]
($375 million retail)[64][45] 		$5.95 billion
($4.74 billion arcade)
($1.186 billion retail)
1978 $1.2 billion
($1 billion arcade)[63][65][66]
($200 million retail)[7][64]
(Arcade Golden Age begins with Space Invaders) 		$4.23 billion
($3.521 billion arcade)
($704.3 million retail)
1977 $400 million[67]
($21 million retail)[68]
(Video game crash of 1977) 		$1.5 billion
($80 million retail)
1976 $242 million (retail) [69] $977 million (retail)
1975 $22 million (retail) [29] $94 million (retail)
1973 $40 million [70] $207 million
1972 Arcade video gaming arrives to US via Pong

Overseas retail exports[edit | edit source]

Year Video game market revenue Inflation-adjusted revenue (2012 dollars)[1]
2004 $2.1 billion[71] $2.55 billion
2000 $3.05 billion[72] $4.07 billion

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CPI Inflation Calculator. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved on 2012-02-22.
  2. ↑ US, 2013
  3. ↑ US, 2012
  4. ↑ $11.2 billion sales, $723 million rentals
  5. ↑ $11.7 billion sales, $690.62 million rentals
  6. ↑ NPD 2002 sales figures $12 billion (console & arcade) - $10.3 billion (console) = $1.7 billion (arcade)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Yuko Aoyama & Hiro Izushi (2003), Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry, Research Policy 32: 423-44
  8. ↑ NPD Reports Annual 2001 U.S. Interactive Entertainment Sales Shatter Industry Record, Business Wire (February 7, 2002)
  9. ↑ http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/20/npd-pc-game-retail-sales-numbers-are-just-half-the-stor/
  10. ↑ [3] [4]
  11. ↑ Video Games, Drugs, and The ‘New Violence’ (Fall 2000)
  12. ↑ 'Dancing Arcade Game' Draws Huge Crowds (December 4, 2000)
  13. ↑ [5] [6] [7]
  14. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_9_38/ai_54624732
  15. ↑ $5.8 billion retail software
  16. ↑ https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131612/developing_games_for_coinop.php
  17. ↑ [8] [9] [10] [11]
  18. ↑ Spielberg's Arcade of the Future (March 12, 1997)
  19. ↑ Om Malik (9/19/1997), The Game: Sony PlayStation versus Nintendo64, Forbes
  20. ↑ [12] [13] [14] [15]
  21. ↑ GameCase - Home Video-game industry (1983-1996)
  22. ↑ 3Dfx INTERACTIVE ANNOUNCES LOW-COST SYSTEM FOR COIN-OP/ARCADE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY, 3/7/1996
  23. ↑ [16] [17] [18]
  24. ↑ Business Week, Issues 3392-3405, p. 58, 1994
  25. ↑ $7 billion sales, $1.5 billion rentals
  26. ↑ Patricia Ann McKanic (March 24, 1994), Video values, Lakeland Ledger
  27. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19940403&id=8UoeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DccEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1756,337084
  28. ↑ $6.5 billion sales, and $1.5 billion rentals
  29. ↑ [19]
  30. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19931101&id=9QQSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5PADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5433,116151
  31. ↑ Rivalry in Video Games
  32. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/Electronic-Games-1993-06/Electronic%20Games%201993-06#page/n15/mode/2up
  33. ↑ Video-Game Industry May Be Hit With Revolt By Parents (December 23, 1992)
  34. ↑ Tracy Johnson (April 3, 1992), Are Arcades Archaic? Business down, owners add zip and zap to lure players, Boston Globe
  35. ↑ Encyclopedia of New Media, p. 198
  36. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  37. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/06Kahle001551#page/n9/mode/2up
  38. ↑ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB342D8DFB4F4B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id
  39. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/08/business/waiting-for-the-zapping-of-nintendo.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
  40. ↑ $7.9 billion arcade, $3.5 billion retail
  41. ↑ NEC Tries to Zap Nintendo In the Video Game Market, The New York Times (May 24, 1989)
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Video Games Are an Exercise In Annihilation, The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution (May 30, 1989)
  43. ↑ Lisa Holton (June 5, 1989), Firms nip at Nintendo's heels, Chicago Sun-Times
  44. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19881107&id=eFoyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9eUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,1808799
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 Nintendo revives video games, The Press-Courier (July 30, 1989)
  46. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-13/business/fi-3249_1_video-game-systems
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 Video Game Myth Busters - Did the "Crash" of 1983/84 Affect Arcades?, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (December 27, 2013)
  48. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19890730&id=qKIbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=R04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5459,6856521
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Nintendo Scores Big, p.2, The New York Times (December 4, 1988)
  50. ↑ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=82AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88#v=onepage&q&f=false
  51. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 History of In-Game Advertising and Advergames: The First Wave, May 2008
  53. ↑ [20] [21]
  54. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100101161115/http://nintendoland.com/history/hist3.htm
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 [http://vidgame.info/arcade/ Chronology of Arcade Video Game]
  56. ↑ [22] "In+1982%2C+video+arcade+sales+were+%249+billion"
  57. ↑ Everett M. Rogers & Judith K. Larsen (1984). Silicon Valley fever: growth of high-technology culture. Basic Books. p. 263. ISBN 0-465-07821-4. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=frYrAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 2011-04-23. "Video game machines have an average weekly take of $109 per machine. The video arcade industry took in $8 billion in quarters in 1982, surpassing pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion, $10 billion if cassette sales and rentals are included). Those 32 billion arcade games played translate to 143 games for every man, woman, and child in America. A recent Atari survey showed that 86 percent of the US population from 13 to 20 has played some kind of video game and an estimated 8 million US homes have video games hooked up to the television set. Sales of home video games were $3.8 billion in 1982, approximately half that of video game arcades."
  58. ↑ Encyclopedia of New Media, p. 197
  59. ↑ [23] [24] [25]
  60. ↑ George Lucas and the Digital Revolution, 2006
  61. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  62. ↑ Electronic Education, Volume 2, Issues 5-8, p. 50, 1983 [26] [27]
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Coin-Op history -- 1975 to 1998 -- from the pages of RePlay
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Customers getting pickier about electronic games (December 16, 1980)
  65. ↑ The Video Game Invasion (December 18, 1981)
  66. ↑ The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to Playstation and Beyond, p. 105, 2008
  67. ↑ ThirdWay, p. 26, April 2003
  68. ↑ Electronic Toys Taking A Beating (December 17, 1980)
  69. ↑ TV Games Probed, Reading Eagle (December 21, 1976)
  70. ↑ Magnavox Sues Firms Making Video Games, Charges Infringement‎, Wall Street Journal (April 17, 1974)
  71. ↑ http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/seriousbusiness.pdf
  72. ↑ 45% of European market ($6.78 billion) = $3.05 billion


Regions
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Dev kit · Attach rate · Gaming conventions · Recession · Rumors · Sales bumps · Casual and hardcore games · Game piracy · Grey market · Controversies · Developer disputes · Video game research · Game development
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