US, Canada game software, in-game ad sales to hit $17.2b this year - Report

The last three months of US sales data aside, some believe 2009 will still wind up a banner growth year for the game industry. Research firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2009-2013 report, and the outlook is decidedly upbeat.

The report expects North American game industry revenues for 2009--defined as console, handheld, PC, and mobile game software sales, subscription fees, and in-game advertising in Canada and the US--to total $17.2 billion. Though the figures can't be compared directly with those of the NPD Group (which tracks retail sales only), the industry-tracking firm reported that $10.96 billion of console and handheld software was sold in the US alone last year, as part of the country's $21.33 billion non-PC total.

Looking further out, the firm projects the same game industry revenue streams to collectively post average annual growth rates of 5.8 percent through 2013, when the sector will generate an estimated $21.6 billion. But North America isn't the only region where the practices are flourishing, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm expects worldwide revenues from those same areas to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.4 percent to reach $73.5 billion in 2013.

The aforementioned boom time will be aided by the next generation of console releases, which PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted is still a ways off (though perhaps not as far off as some expect). The firm predicted the next generation of systems would begin to be introduced by 2012, with Nintendo being first out of the gate with new hardware due to the Wii's inability to output high-definition graphics.

In-game advertising is a particularly strong segment of the market, according to the firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers said the North American game advertising business will average 13 percent annual growth for the next five years, jumping from an expected $886 million for 2009 to $1.4 billion in 2013. In 2004, North American in-game advertising accounted for just $30 million.