NEWS - Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Videogames Save Entertainment Industry
Videogames Save Entertainment Industry According to the latest report by global financial services and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the videogame sector of the global entertainment industry will contribute significantly to industry growth through 2009. The report states that, as a whole, worldwide entertainment revenues will grow by 7.3% to $1.9 trillion. However, the videogame sector will grow by an incredible 16.5% to reach $55 billion by 2009 with this amount not even including hardware sales. On a geographic basis, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the largest with $23 billion in sales and 18% annual growth. Following that region is Europe which will experience an annual growth rate of 19.1% and sales of $14.3 billion in 2009. Lagging behind the other regions is the United States which is expected to have a 2009 growth rate of 12.1% and annual sales of $15.1 billion. The report cautions that these projections are highly dependent on the success of the next-generation gaming consoles to be introduced by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The embedded online capabilities expected in the next-generation consoles as well as the global growth in broadband capabilities should also provide a significant boost to online gaming, according to the PWC report.Source: http://www.ign.com
