It seems as if video game retailers may not be as affected by the recession as other entertainment industries; some very convincing evidence for this statement can be found in Gamestop’s quarterly earnings report that was released today. Gamestop raked in a record $57.2 million in profit from a gross income of $1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Compared with the situation a year ago, when Gamestop made $21.8 million in profit from $1.4 billion gross revenue, it is surprising. That is a 162% yearly increase in profit and a 38% increase in revenue. This is quite an accomplishment in today’s economy, and a good sign for video games making a place in mainstream entertainment. Gamestop cited GTA IV, MGS4, NCAA ‘09, Wii Fit, and Battlefield: BC as the top 5 sellers in the quarter, in that order, also noting that GTA IV’s first five days of release were out of the quarter. Things can only go up in the second half of the year with major blockbusters like Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Fable 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Call of Duty: World at War, Fallout 3, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and many more set for release.
Many people have been writing off PC gaming as slowly nearing death and being replaced by console gaming. But there are still some definite signs of life, mainly in the fast growing Asian markets. At Leipzig, PC Gaming Alliance released their report on PC Gaming revenues and it was pretty big. PC Gaming brought in a total of 10.7 billion dollars worldwide last year with a heavy influence on the Asian markets, which alone brought in 4.8 billion dollars. Retail sales saw a slight decline, but online sales, for such things as MMOs, were up and showed signs of strong growth. MMOs seem to be a constant growing factor for PC gaming and shows no sign of slowing down. Another big factor was the increasingly popular casual games market, which gains a lot of revenue from in-game advertising.
So who said PC gaming was dead?
Well, we all knew this was going to happen, but don’t you want to know that it officially happened? A Take-Two executive came out today and announced that Manhunt 2 is no longer scheduled for it’s July 10th release on the PS2 and Wii, and that the company needs time to review its options. Just in case you missed the story, the ESRB has given this game an AO rating and as a result, Sony and Nintendo have barred the release of it on their consoles. The game has also been officially banned in Britain, Ireland, and Austrailia.
With Take-Two’s statement on the delay of the game, they also were quoted in saying:
“We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment,”
This could mean that they may not change the game, but that is highly unlikely because it would result in millions of lost dollars. But come on, isn’t this just a game where you can realistically kill people with the help of the Wii remote?
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