The gaming industry has experienced a business boom in spite of the economic recession. According to Nielsen, the number of hours that gamers are playing has hit an "all time high." In addition, used game sales have increased to "record-breaking totals," while video game rentals have increased exponentially.
The top selling video games command prices ranging from $34.99 to $59.99 … not an easy pill to swallow during a recession. It is also the reason for the explosive popularity of used video games with retailers like Wal-Mart looking to step into the lucrative secondary market.
While gamers are playing more and paying less, possibly as an escape from the real world recession blues, the industry has witnessed a softening of the market with a 6 percent downturn in sales during the first half of 2009.
The all time top seller as of this week with 135 weeks on the charts is Nintendo’s Wii Sports selling over 23.6 million copies to date.
The increase in the use of the smart phone for gaming is also on a positive upswing with initial game sales in the 8 million plus unit range with multi-player capabilities.
Are your marketing efforts addressing gaming as part of your social marketing mix?
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