wraggster
November 15th, 2014, 20:01
Doug Creutz says shift away from physical purchases is hurting NPD totals, retailers' market share
Yesterday, the NPD Group reported October's US game software sales were down 27 percent year-over-year. Today, as reported by VentureBeat (http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/14/analyst-digital-makes-up-as-much-as-25-of-total-game-sales/), analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company told investors that's bad news, but not necessarily for the people who make games.
"[Sales were down] driven by tough comps and the drag from a significant percentage of next-gen software units being sold digitally," Creutz said, adding, "This is not so much a problem for the publishers as it is for brick-and-mortar retail."
With the NPD tracking only US retail game sales, Creutz said it is missing out on the increasing amount of sales that happen directly from platform-holders' storefronts.
"Given the strong shift toward new-gen games that is apparent from recent data, and the fact that digital currently appears to be taking as much as 25 percent share of total new-gen sales depending on the game, we continue to expect total Q4 physical unit sales to be down double-digits year-over-year," Creutz said.
The NPD Group has been attempting to incorporate digital sales into its reporting for years. In February, it confirmed it had a group of publishers participating in a pilot program where they exchange such information (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-12-publishers-have-overcome-the-fear-and-trepidation-on-digital-data), but as yet has not made that information available to the public.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-11-14-up-to-25-percent-of-ps4-xbox-one-game-sales-are-digital-analyst
Yesterday, the NPD Group reported October's US game software sales were down 27 percent year-over-year. Today, as reported by VentureBeat (http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/14/analyst-digital-makes-up-as-much-as-25-of-total-game-sales/), analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company told investors that's bad news, but not necessarily for the people who make games.
"[Sales were down] driven by tough comps and the drag from a significant percentage of next-gen software units being sold digitally," Creutz said, adding, "This is not so much a problem for the publishers as it is for brick-and-mortar retail."
With the NPD tracking only US retail game sales, Creutz said it is missing out on the increasing amount of sales that happen directly from platform-holders' storefronts.
"Given the strong shift toward new-gen games that is apparent from recent data, and the fact that digital currently appears to be taking as much as 25 percent share of total new-gen sales depending on the game, we continue to expect total Q4 physical unit sales to be down double-digits year-over-year," Creutz said.
The NPD Group has been attempting to incorporate digital sales into its reporting for years. In February, it confirmed it had a group of publishers participating in a pilot program where they exchange such information (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-12-publishers-have-overcome-the-fear-and-trepidation-on-digital-data), but as yet has not made that information available to the public.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-11-14-up-to-25-percent-of-ps4-xbox-one-game-sales-are-digital-analyst