Study shows that fewer people are playing Video Games

By: Musa Afridi

  |   September 12th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Anita Frazier, an analyst from NPD, has highlighted that the number of core gamers has decreased by 12-million and that next-gen consoles could be the only thing to bring those numbers back up.

When the debt and financial crisis hit the world a number of industries suffered, with some feeling the heat more than others. To say it did not affect the video game industry would not be an accurate statement but it was one of the sectors of the economy that continued to do well, when compared to the rest of the economy.

One would assume based on that that the industry would be able to survive no matter what, however, there are growing concerns at the moment as Anita Frazier from NPD has shown that the number of gamers who are playing core games is shrinking.

Frazier is of the opinion that all of that could change with the next-generation of home consoles such as the Nintendo Wii U, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720. She wrote in her report:

“I do believe new console systems will help bolster some of the segments that showed decline this year — in particular the core segment.”

As for the facts and figures, well it turns out that over 12-million gamers have stopped playing games on their consoles, with the largest market segment now being Mobile Gamers. The segment now represents 22% of the total market.

Anita Frazier could not comment on where all the former gamers had gone, as it was not a part of the study, but she did speculate that it had to do with the growth of other entertainment platforms.

She said, “That is outside the scope of our study, but I think logically it makes sense that with new devices and services across entertainment categories, there (are) simply more entertainment options available to consumers.”

The Nintendo 3DS struggled on its release and the Sony’s PlayStation Vita is also struggling on that front. Video game publishers such as Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive Software (the parent company of Rockstar) and EA have all seen their sales drop as well.

However, that could change this holiday season with the promise of Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Assassin’s Creed 3 and a number of other first-party titles. Whether or not it will have a significant impact remains to be seen as the mobile gamer market continues to grow and intrude on the console market, which makes one wonder whether the future of home consoles may not be as bright as many think.

But what about the readers; do they think that the video game industry will recover with the next generation of home consoles or will the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 be the last true home consoles? Let us know in the comments section below.