The Game Market In Numbers, 2009

Some interesting numbers from this report on gamers in different countries. Of course, it only covers electronic games, but since the non-electronic sort represents a rounding error in the total, it's a reasonable thing. Key figures from the report:

• US gamers spent over $25 billion on games in 2009.
• There were an estimated 183 million players in the US who spent money on games.
• Consoles grabbed 60% of the total, PCs 16%, game portals 11%, MMO's 8%, and mobile 4%.

Some interesting data that wasn't in the free report, but which they shared with Gamasutra: 46% of US revenue comes from used games or online transactions (which includes subscriptions, virtual currency, and digital downloads). That number surprised me; it signals just how difficult it is to be a traditional publisher specializing in console games these days. Used game sales don't bring you a dime... you have to make your profit on the initial sale, and it's tougher than ever.

The whole report (with detailed breakdowns by platform, and with some crosstabs) is available for 300 euros. Might be worth it if you're trying to evaluate the market size for your products.