It's Official: 2001 Was Best Year For U.S. Game Industry

The previous record, set in 1999, stood at $6.9 billion. These numbers were released today in a new report by NPD. NPD said that the number of consoles increased by 39% last year, amounting to a 120% increase in revenue. The higher revenue came as a result of higher sales volume on consoles, as well as the higher average price of the next-generation consoles. On the game side, the industry hit $6 billion in sales, up from $5.4 billion in 2000. As a benchmark, the U.S. box office receipts for Hollywood movies in 2001 amounted to $8.4 billion. The top seller in 2001 for consoles was Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto 3 for the PS2, which has sold 2 million copies since it debuted October. The Sims was the best seller on the PC, posting 2.6 million units in sales since it launched. Nintendo was the top publisher for consoles and handhelds in 2001 (three top-10 titles, all for the GBA). Sony had seven of the top 10 console titles for the year, and EA controlled the PC market with six of the top 10 games on that list.