US Game Sales Growth Lower Than Expected

Data from market researches The NPD Group shows that US video game software sales grew 5% in 2003, a significant decrease in growth of 10% in 2001 and 21% in 2002. Total software sales in December, however, rose 13% year-on-year. Sales for just the current generation of consoles were up 21% in December and 17% for the year. Of these the PlayStation 2 was down 26% from 2002, the Xbox down 2% and the GameCube up by 39%. Amongst the major third party publishers Electronic Arts’ sales were up 32% in December and Activision's up 38%. Source: Reuters