Smart Phone, Freemium Games Competing With Console Games?

Shifts of consumer demand always are important, and a shift seems to be happening in the video game arena. Sales of video games fell by 10 percent in June 2011 according to NPD Group, from $1.15 billion in June 2010 to $1.03 billion. The decline is worst among publishers of traditional console games.

The industry currently garners about 75 percent of its revenue from packaged sales, although some industry leaders expect that to drop to just 50 percent within the next five years. Changing user expectations probably play a part, as there is growing evidence gamers think $40 is too much to pay for a single title.

But something else also seems to be happening. Users are spending more time playing simple games on their smart phones and tablets, instead of using dedicated gaming devices.

Even the pre-teen market, the largest for hand-helds, is perfectly happy to play games on an iPhone or other smartphones, NPD says.

Smartphone & Freemium Games Killing Console Competitors?