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  • Console and Handheld Gaming Software Global Strategic Business Report Now Available

19th October 2012

Console and Handheld Gaming Software Global Strategic Business Report Now Available

research and marketsThis report from Research And Markets analyzes the worldwide markets for Console and Handheld Gaming Software in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Latin America. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2010 through 2018. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets.

The report profiles 93 companies including many key and niche players such as

  • Activision Blizzard, Inc
  • Discovery Communications, Inc
  • Electronic Arts Inc
  • Gameloft® SA
  • Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • Nintendo Co., Ltd
  • Playtech
  • Sony Corporation
  • Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc
  • Tata Elxsi Limited
  • Telefield International (Holdings) Limited
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • Ubisoft
  • RedLynx, Ltd

Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based upon search engine sources in the public domain. Please see the Table of Contents for a comprehensive preview of the information detailed in this report.

Please note: Reports are sold as single-site single-user licenses ($4 950.00 USD). Electronic versions require 24-48 hours as each copy is customized to the client with digital controls and custom watermarks.

Report Summary:

Video games emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors of the global entertainment and media industry in a very short period of time. Despite being a new entrant, the video games industry emerged as a major competitor to traditional entertainment industries such as cinema. The video games industry is projected to outstrip several traditional media industries in terms of growth in the near future. The demand for video games also stimulates the launch of latest and faster central processing units in computers. As entertainment becomes increasingly realistic, video games require higher processor speed and companies such as Intel and IBM are developing high-speed processors to meet the increasing demands of the entertainment software. At present, several countries in the world house video games development and production centers. The US and Japan are the traditional leaders in video game development. In the recent past, several developing countries such as China and India took the necessary steps to attract foreign video games publishers to their shores.

Sales of gaming consoles are largely dependent upon the success of the gaming software, in other words the content. A classic case is the success of Xbox consoles of Microsoft, which is accredited to the success of the Halo title. Gaming software has traditionally been accounting for a significant share of the video game market. However, the distribution of the market is highly uneven, with most of the revenues emerging from few titles. As a result, software continues to remain a major focus for gaming, which is a reason behind Microsoft’s acquisition of Bungie Studios way back in the year 2000, providing the company with the rights to the Halo franchise. The process of game development involves support offered to game development studios from large publishing houses, which helps them through the long development cycle. The companies do not make any revenue during this period. Once developed, the publisher incurs additional costs in the form of promoting the game and remains the beneficiary of any sales proceeds made thereafter. However, the publisher stands to lose all initial investments when a title fails in the market. Given this risk, publishers continue to rely on a very basic formula of developing successful concepts with respect to game franchises, followed by roll out of sequels to the successful games.

Motion-sensor games have penetrated in a big way into the console gaming market. These games have managed to oust the traditional way of playing console games where games are operated through a controller by the user sitting on a couch. The availability of these inexpensive components has enabled the emergence of a new interface option in the console gaming market. What followed was the development of several games that revolve around physical activities including sports such as tennis and boxing. Owing to the ease that these games offer, the natural audience for gaming has substantially increased since their launch. Wii from Nintendo was the first in this breed, which demonstrated superlative growth in sales, even outselling some of the leading console games in the market following its introduction. A recent success in this space is Microsoft’s Kinect, a motion-sensing add-on component to Xbox, which was launched in the North American market in the year 2010. The product became an instant hit, and emerged as the fastest selling consumer device ever.

If trends over the past few years are of any indication, handheld gaming is increasingly becoming a niche market. Over the long term, the gaming market is expected to witness unit sales dropping, although at a milder pace. Demand for handheld gaming is not expected to be supplanted totally, as a segment of the market is expected to continue creating demand for these products. However, rising use of smartphones for gaming would certainly turn the handheld console gaming to a niche market. Although the recent and current trends have not been encouraging for the console gaming market, some hope exists for the market in the near future. Leading console producers in the market such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are expected to roll out new console products in the market in the next few years, potentially providing the much needed momentum for console gaming market post 2014.

Piracy is a major threat to the entire video game industry as it causes massive revenue loss. A large number of new console and handheld games are illegally distributed on the Internet as soon as they are officially launched in the market or some times much before their official launch. In order to combat this monstrous threat, video game companies are investing in the development of disruptive technologies and are embarking on educational and awareness campaigns. A number of publishers are also switching over to online gaming to curb this menace. Additionally, rapid growth of MMOGs or Massive Multiplayer Online Games is posing a substantial threat to handheld and console games. Customers can gain access to these games on the basis of subscription. The threat looms large even as some of the latest console and handheld gaming devices offer Internet capabilities. Yet another threat emerges from Mobile phones, especially smartphones. Although dedicated handheld gaming devices accounted for a greater share of gaming software revenues when compared to mobile phones in the recent past, mobile phones, especially smartphones, are forecast to outstrip dedicated handheld gaming devices and emerge as the leading mobile gaming platforms in future.

The US represents the largest regional market worldwide, as stated by the new market research report on Console and Handheld Gaming Software. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing market worldwide witnessing a compounded annual growth rate of 6.3% during the analysis period. Segment wise, Console Gaming Software represents the largest as well as the fastest growing segment in the global console and handheld gaming software market.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2012 at 10:14 am and is filed under Business News, Game Dev, National News, Research Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
  1. Tami Quiring (@VillageGamer)
    3:15 am on October 19th, 2012

    .@researchmarkets Report – Console and Handheld Gaming Software Global Strategic Business Now Available http://t.co/7NRjQPsj

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