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Consumers up games spending

Video games continue to be a 'value for money' sell to consumers, with the retail games industry sales up 8.3 per cent

The video game industry continues to record strong growth, thanks to a widening consumer age demographic looking to maximise entertainment in tough economic times.

Despite some early indications that the retail games industry is under fire from digital distribution, and in contrast to market trends in the US and Japan, GfK Australia market figures paint a positive picture locally.

According to the GfK data, the retail games industry is tracking 8.3 per cent higher to the end of September, compared to the same period last year. Sales of console hardware have risen 10 per cent, and game sales are up 5 per cent to $716 million with Christmas, a traditionally strong period for game sales, still to come.

CEO of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, Ron Curry, said there was a growing demographic of customers for games sales, with parents and older adults purchasing consoles and games now.

“People are seeing $80 or so for a game as good value for entertainment with the economic climate,” Curry said. “There’s also a greater range of games available now beyond the traditional action games.”

Sixty-seven per cent of all sales were generated from G or PG rated titles. Family games accounted for 28 per cent of all games software sales; action games made up 15.5 per cent.

Game sales were expected to pick up further before Christmas, with a number of vendors promising a strong line up of games set for launch, Curry said.

“That said, where we used to have peaks and troughs, game sales are more consistent through the year now,” he said.

The current data doesn’t break down into the number of games sold per console, or which console people are buying games on – that data would be tracked closer to the end of the year, Curry said.

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