Video games have obviously become mega profitable this century. But the hottest market in gaming may be paying for downloadable games.
The Xbox Live Arcade is the most popular means of game downloading. Last year, according to research group Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE), XBLA generated $103.4 million of revenue for 2009. That is a 34-percent spike from 2008.
FADE’s complete top ten for estimated XBLA sales in 2009:
* Battlefield 1943 (EA Dice) – $12.5 million ($15.00)
* Castle Crashers (The Behemoth) – $7.3 million ($15.00)
* Trials HD (RedLynx, LTD) – $7.1 million ($15.00)
* Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment / Epic Games) – $6.1 million ($14.38)
* Family Game Night (Hasbro) – $4.2 million ($9.53)
* Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom) – $4.2 million ($15.00)
* Magic: The Gathering (Stainless Games) – $2.8 million ($10.00)
* Worms 2 (Team 17) – $1.8 million ($10.00)
* Peggle (PopCap Games) – $1.8 million ($8.86)
* Turtles in Time: Reshelled (Ubisoft Singapore) – $1.7 million ($10.00)
This trend should only continue to grow. Personally, I own five of those. And as a casual to regular gamer, that speaks volumes about the success of downloading games.
