The global games industry recorded revenues reaching $91 billion entering into 2017 and a popular genre within that industry is the sports video game with 13.2% of video game sales coming under that category. In an age when mobile, virtual reality, and eSports are evolving, we take a look at how the sports video game industry is changing. The Early Days It could be argued that the first ever example of a sports video game came way back in 1958 when US physicist William Higinbotham developed a title called Tennis for Two. It was a two-player tennis game played on an oscilloscope However, sports games did not enter the public mainstream until the 1972 release of Pong on the Atari. This saw a boom in sports video games being released throughout the 1970s such as Taito’s Davis Cup, Soccer, and Pro Hockey, and Sega’s Hockey TV. In the 1980s, Iconic games such as Activision Tennis, Track and Field, and Pole Position hit the shelves as the decade was welcomed in. Over the … [Read more...] about Is the Sports Video Game Industry Changing?
Game industry revenue
Opinion: Why there’s no such thing as ‘the game industry’
There is no such thing as “the game industry.” I see a lot of people talking about how “the game industry” has done this or that. People writing screeds about “the game industry” making X billions of dollars, while failing to pay its voice actors enough. Or how “The game industry” is getting high off microtransactions. Anyone who uses neither voice actors nor microtransactions will immediately understand my frustration. Put simply, there’s not one single “game industry.” There’s not even a single governing body that can represent all of us. It feels as though there are at least two “game industries,” nowadays. There's the triple-A world of big budgets, big releases, and large studios, and then there's, well, everybody else. Indies, outsourcing studios, smaller and mid-sized developers, hobbyists. They don't play by the same rules as the big studios, because their circumstances are very different. … [Read more...] about Opinion: Why there’s no such thing as ‘the game industry’
Why there’s no such thing as ‘the game industry’
There is no such thing as “the game industry.” I see a lot of people talking about how “the game industry” has done this or that. People writing screeds about “the game industry” making X billions of dollars, while failing to pay its voice actors enough. Or how “The game industry” is getting high off microtransactions. Anyone who uses neither voice actors nor microtransactions will immediately understand my frustration. Put simply, there’s not one single “game industry.” There’s not even a single governing body that can represent all of us. It feels as though there are at least two “game industries,” nowadays. There's the triple-A world of big budgets, big releases, and large studios, and then there's, well, everybody else. Indies, outsourcing studios, smaller and mid-sized developers, hobbyists. They don't play by the same rules as the big studios, because their circumstances are very different. … [Read more...] about Why there’s no such thing as ‘the game industry’
ESA: The U.S. game industry saw $36B in revenue in 2017
According to the ESA’s annual assessment, the U.S. game industry once again saw a year-over-year increase in revenue, with this year’s numbers coming in at $36 billion in revenue between hardware, peripherals, software, in-game purchases, and subscriptions. By the ESA’s count, that makes for an 18 percent increase over the $30.4 billion reported in 2016. Those numbers were based on the NPD Group’s annual year-end reporting and supplemented with App Store and Google Play data from the mobile analytics firm App Annie. Keep in mind however that the NPD’s reporting on game and downloadable content sales, particularly digital, isn’t an exact measurement. The report notes that its numbers don’t include digital sales for Switch and 3DS games, or PC digital sales from Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Battle.net, Origin, or Uplay. Game developers should be aware that data gaps like that have led to amended reports in the past, but, … [Read more...] about ESA: The U.S. game industry saw $36B in revenue in 2017
What the game industry thinks of Nintendo’s Switch
Four days from today, Nintendo's latest console will go on sale. A little over four years since the launch of Wii U, a little over four months since Nintendo announced Switch, and to many, the system seems like a breath of fresh air — a game console Transformer full of potential with a steady stream of software to back it up. To some, though, the system seems incomplete. From early reports of controllers that don't properly sync to a limited launch lineup, a lack of non-game apps like Netflix, a missing Virtual Console library and lingering questions about the online service, there's a simplicity to Switch's launch that recalls the '90s — Zelda is Mario 64, and if you don't want that or a few other games, you might not need the system right away. In time, Nintendo will address those issues. Yet more than most consoles, Switch remains a bit of a mystery at launch. Are motion controls going to be a big part of it? What type of player will Switch developers cater to? And will … [Read more...] about What the game industry thinks of Nintendo’s Switch