Video game sales see record growth in '07

WASHINGTON Computer and video game software sales reached $9.5 billion in 2007, 28% over the previous year, and set a new record according to final data compiled by the NPD Group and announced today by the Entertainment Software Association.

The ESA reported that Halo 3, took in more revenue in its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie (Spider-Man 3) and the final Harry Potter book’s first day sales, demonstrating the strong growth of the industry.

"The video game industry set the pace over all others in 2007, with record-breaking sales, off-the-charts consumer demand, and innovation reaching from galactic exploration to guitar simulation," said Michael Gallagher, president and ceo of the ESA. "On average, an astonishing 9 games were sold every second of every day of the year."

According to the data compiled by the NPD Group, overall U.S. video game console software sales reached $6.6 billion (153.9 million units), computer games sales were $910.7 million (36.4 million units), and a record $2 billion (77.5 million units) in portable software sales. In terms of total units sold, approximately 267.8 million computer and video games were sold in 2007.

Although their has been a lot of controversy surrounding Mature-rated games, according to the NPD Group, the majority of the games sold(56.5%) were rated Everyone 10+. Also, one of the largest genres growing was “Family Entertainment,” which grew 110% (17.2% of all games sold in 2007, up from 9.1% in 2006). “This is clearly an industry strongly rooted in family-friendly entertainment, and not on Mature-rated titles,” noted Gallagher.