Informa Predicts $58.4 Billion Game Industry In 2007

Analyst firm Informa Telecoms & Media has announced the fifth edition of its Dynamics of Games report, revealing that the entirity of the game industry will be worth $35.3 billion in 2005, 5.3% higher than in 2004, and that the console sector represents around half of those game revenues worldwide. With the next generation consoles rolling out from November 2005, this will result in another peak, according to Informa - the largest ever - in 2007, when the market will be worth $58.4 billion. According to Zenobia Talati, co-author of the report, Sony will be less dominant in the next-generation console hardware race. She said: "While we still expect the PS3 to lead the next wave of consoles, it will not be the one-horse race of the previous generation. The Xbox 360 will benefit from first-mover advantage and Nintendo has already revealed some interesting ideas for its Revolution concept." Mobile games is the fastest growing ‘new’ games sector, and is expected to generate revenues of $2.6 billion in 2005. The broadband sector is another emerging market that is starting to impress. Report co-author Alastair Nash said: “The broadband sector is being assisted by fast growth from Xbox Live and, to a lesser extent, the PlayStation 2 online. The launch of next generation machines will provide another boost for online games and help the market to settle on its most effective revenue model.” Although full details of the survey are available by purchasing Informa's report, available information suggested that console hardware revenue would grow from $3.89 billion this year to $5.77 billion in 2010, with console software shooting up from $13.05 billion to $17.16 billion, but handheld hardware and software decreasing somewhat as mobile game revenue shot up from $2.57 billion in 2005 to $11.19 billion in 2010. Finally, while retail PC software was predicted to dip from $4.31 billion to $2.96 billion in the next 5 years, broadband (meaning any downloaded game, for PC or console devices) is predicted to sprout from $1,94 billion this year to $6.35 billion in 5 years, and interactive TV (in the form of set-top boxes and similar devices) is expected to swell significantly, from $786 million all the way to $3.04 billion in 2010.