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See also: NPD sales data

Video games in the United States. Sales data since the 1990s is covered by the NPD.

Hardware sales oct 08

Total U.S. sales of Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

US Inflation-Adjusted Revenues

Overall United States video game market revenues from 1973 to 2013, adjusted for inflation (in 2012 dollars for years prior to 2012).
Blue - Arcade sector
Red - Consumer sector (incl. console, PC, handheld, mobile, tablet)
Green - Overall US market (all sectors)

NPD sales figures[]

Main article: NPD sales figures

Industry revenue[]

See also: Video game industry for worldwide figures and Video games in Japan for Japan figures

These figures are for United States only. Some numbers may exclude/include PC gamesarcade games, and/or mobile games.

Domestic market[]

Year Annual revenue Breakdown Ref
Nominal Inflation
2013 $17,390,000,000 $22,000,000,000 $15.39 billion consumer market
$2 billion arcade market
[1]
2012 $17,100,000,000 $22,000,000,000 $14.8 billion consumer market
$2.3 billion arcade market
[2]
2011 $16,600,000,000 $22,000,000,000 NPD 2011 sales figures
2010 $18,580,000,000 $25,000,000,000 NPD 2010 sales figures
2009 $19,660,000,000 $22,000,000,000 NPD 2009 sales figures
2008 $22,000,000,000 $30,000,000,000 NPD 2008 sales figures
2007 $18,850,000,000 $27,000,000,000 NPD 2007 sales figures
2006 $13,500,000,000 $20,000,000,000 NPD 2006 sales figures
2005 $11,500,000,000 $17,000,000,000 $11.5 billion retail market
NPD 2005 sales figures
2004 $14,500,000,000 $22,000,000,000 $11 billion consumer market
$3.5 billion arcade market
NPD 2004 sales figures
2003 $11,923,000,000 $19,000,000,000 $11.923 billion retail market[3]
NPD 2003 sales figures
2002 $14,100,000,000 $23,000,000,000 $12.4 billion retail[4]
$1.7 billion arcade[5]
NPD 2002 sales figures
2001 $11,900,000,000 $20,000,000,000 $11.9 billion[6] retail (incl. PC games)
GC, GBA, XBX launches
[7][8]
2000 $11,000,000,000 $19,000,000,000 $11 billion retail[6]
$6.6 billion retail (excl. PC games)
[9]
1999 $16,700,000,000 $29,000,000,000 $11 billion retail[10]
$5.7 billion arcade[11]
[6][12]
1998 $8,900,000,000 $16,000,000,000 $8.9 billion retail[6] [13]
1997 $14,000,000,000 $26,000,000,000 $7.5 billion retail[6][14]
$6.5 billion arcade[15]
[16]
1996 $15,000,000,000 $28,000,000,000 $8 billion arcade[17]
$7 billion retail[18][6]
[19]
1995 $12,700,000,000 $24,000,000,000 $7.9 billion retail[20]
$4.8 billion arcade[21]
[22]
1994 $15,500,000,000 $31,000,000,000 $7 billion arcade[23]
$8.5 billion retail[24]
1993 $15,500,000,000 $31,000,000,000 $8 billion arcade[25][26]
$7.5 billion retail[27]
1992 $14,342,000,000 $30,000,000,000 $9 billion arcade[28]
$5 billion console software[29][30]
$342 million computer software[31]
1991 $8,100,000,000 $17,000,000,000 $6 billion retail[32]
$2.1 billion arcade[33]
Arcade renaissance begins with Street Fighter II
1990 $10,000,000,000 $22,000,000,000 $5.1 billion retail (Nintendo 90%)
$4.9 billion arcade
[34][35][36][37][38]
1989 $11,400,000,000 $27,000,000,000 $7.9 billion arcade
$3.5 billion retail)
[39]
1988 $9,900,000,000 $24,000,000,000 $6.4 billion arcade
$3.5 billion retail[40]
[41][42]
1987 $1,162,000,000 $3,000,000,000 $1.162 billion retail
$1.1 billion console[43][44]
$62 million computer software[45]
1986 $4,430,000,000 $12,000,000,000 $4 billion arcade[46]
$430 million retail[44][47]
[41]
1985 $4,600,000,000 $13,000,000,000 $4.5 billion arcade[46]
$100 million retail[48][49]
NES and Super Mario Bros. begins market revival
[50]
1984 $5,300,000,000 $15,000,000,000 $4.5 billion arcade[46]
$800 million retail[51]
Arcade golden age ends
1983 $9,900,000,000 $29,000,000,000 $7.9 billion arcade
$2 billion retail[51]
Video game crash of 1983
[46][52][53]
1982 $14,200,000,000 $43,000,000,000 $9-11.8 billion arcade
$3.8 billion retail (Atari accounting for nearly 80%)
[54][55][56][48]
1981 $11,600,000,000 $37,000,000,000 $8-10.2 billion arcade
$1-2.5 billion retail
[57][58][54][59]
1980 $7,614,000,000 $27,000,000,000 $7.15 billion arcade[46][54]
$464 million retail[60]
1979 $4,150,000,000 $17,000,000,000 $3.445 billion (arcade games)[61][62][63]
$1.475 billion (video games)
$375 million (retail games)[64][44]
[61]
1978 $2,661,000,000 $12,000,000,000 $2.2 billion (arcade games)
$826 million (video games)
$336 million (console games)
Arcade golden age begins with Space Invaders
[65][66][67]
1977 $725,190,000 $3,500,000,000 $653.19 million (video games)
$481.39 million (arcade games)
$319 million (console games)
[68][69][70]
1976 $668,300,000 $3,400,000,000 $691 million (video games)
$437.3 million (arcade games)
$231 million (console games)
[71][72]
1975 $287,000,000 $1,600,000,000 $247 million (arcade games)
$192 million (video games)
$40 million (video game consoles)
[73]
1974 $444,300,000 $2,600,000,000 $433 million (arcade games)
$261.3 million (video games)
$11.3 million (video game consoles)
[74]
1973 $189,000,000 $1,200,000,000 $182 million (arcade games)
$161 million (video games)
$7 million (video game consoles)
[75][76]
1972 $187,500,000 $1,300,000,000 $182 million (arcade games)
$11.5 million (video games)
$5.5 million (video game consoles)
[77]
1971 $135,000,000 $980,000,000 $134 million (electro‑mechanical arcade games)
$1 million (arcade video games)
Video game industry begins with Computer Space
[78]
1970 $105,000,000 $790,000,000 Arcade games (electro‑mechanical games) [79]

Overseas exports[]

Year Video game market revenue Inflation-adjusted revenue (2012 dollars)[80]
2004 $2.1 billion[81] $2.55 billion
2000 $3.05 billion[82] $4.07 billion

Most famous game franchises[]

Rank Franchise Fame Ref
1 Pac-Man 94% [83]
2 Mario 93%
3 Pokémon 90% [84]
4 Candy Crush Saga 90% [85]
5 Grand Theft Auto 89%
6 Angry Birds 89%
7 Minecraft 88%
8 Sonic the Hedgehog 85% [86]
9 Mortal Kombat 84% [85]
10 Sega 83%

Other popular games[]

Biggest launches[]

See also: NPD Fastest selling games

Tidbits[]

  • According to Nintendo, the U.S. makes up approximately 85% of the Americas sales, which includes Latin America, Canada, and South America. Mexico is the top Latin American market for Nintendo, followed closely by Brazil. 

See also[]

References[]

  1. US, 2013
  2. US, 2012
  3. $11.2 billion sales, $723 million rentals
  4. $11.7 billion sales, $690.62 million rentals
  5. NPD 2002 sales figures $12 billion (console & arcade) - $10.3 billion (console) = $1.7 billion (arcade)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Yuko Aoyama & Hiro Izushi (2003), Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry, Research Policy 32: 423-44
  7. NPD Reports Annual 2001 U.S. Interactive Entertainment Sales Shatter Industry Record, Business Wire (February 7, 2002)
  8. http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/20/npd-pc-game-retail-sales-numbers-are-just-half-the-stor/
  9. [3] [4]
  10. Video Games, Drugs, and The ‘New Violence’ (Fall 2000)
  11. 'Dancing Arcade Game' Draws Huge Crowds (December 4, 2000)
  12. [5] [6] [7]
  13. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_9_38/ai_54624732
  14. $5.8 billion retail software
  15. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131612/developing_games_for_coinop.php
  16. [8] [9] [10] [11]
  17. Spielberg's Arcade of the Future (March 12, 1997)
  18. Om Malik (9/19/1997), The Game: Sony PlayStation versus Nintendo64, Forbes
  19. [12] [13] [14] [15]
  20. GameCase - Home Video-game industry (1983-1996)
  21. 3Dfx INTERACTIVE ANNOUNCES LOW-COST SYSTEM FOR COIN-OP/ARCADE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY, 3/7/1996
  22. [16] [17] [18]
  23. Business Week, Issues 3392-3405, p. 58, 1994
  24. $7 billion sales, $1.5 billion rentals
  25. Patricia Ann McKanic (March 24, 1994), Video values, Lakeland Ledger
  26. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19940403&id=8UoeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DccEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1756,337084
  27. $6.5 billion sales, and $1.5 billion rentals
  28. [19]
  29. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19931101&id=9QQSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5PADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5433,116151
  30. Rivalry in Video Games
  31. https://archive.org/stream/Electronic-Games-1993-06/Electronic%20Games%201993-06#page/n15/mode/2up
  32. Video-Game Industry May Be Hit With Revolt By Parents (December 23, 1992)
  33. Tracy Johnson (April 3, 1992), Are Arcades Archaic? Business down, owners add zip and zap to lure players, Boston Globe
  34. Encyclopedia of New Media, p. 198
  35. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  36. https://archive.org/stream/06Kahle001551#page/n9/mode/2up
  37. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB342D8DFB4F4B8&p_field_direct-0=document_id
  38. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/08/business/waiting-for-the-zapping-of-nintendo.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
  39. $7.9 billion arcade, $3.5 billion retail
  40. NEC Tries to Zap Nintendo In the Video Game Market, The New York Times (May 24, 1989)
  41. 41.0 41.1 Video Games Are an Exercise In Annihilation, The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution (May 30, 1989)
  42. Lisa Holton (June 5, 1989), Firms nip at Nintendo's heels, Chicago Sun-Times
  43. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19881107&id=eFoyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9eUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,1808799
  44. 44.0 44.1 44.2 Nintendo revives video games, The Press-Courier (July 30, 1989)
  45. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-13/business/fi-3249_1_video-game-systems
  46. 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 Video Game Myth Busters - Did the "Crash" of 1983/84 Affect Arcades?, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (December 27, 2013)
  47. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19890730&id=qKIbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=R04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5459,6856521
  48. 48.0 48.1 Nintendo Scores Big, p.2, The New York Times (December 4, 1988)
  49. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=82AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88#v=onepage&q&f=false
  50. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  51. 51.0 51.1 History of In-Game Advertising and Advergames: The First Wave, May 2008
  52. [20] [21]
  53. http://web.archive.org/web/20100101161115/http://nintendoland.com/history/hist3.htm
  54. 54.0 54.1 54.2 [http://vidgame.info/arcade/ Chronology of Arcade Video Game]
  55. [22] "In+1982%2C+video+arcade+sales+were+%249+billion"
  56. Everett M. Rogers & Judith K. Larsen (1984). Silicon Valley fever: growth of high-technology culture. Basic Books. p. 263. ISBN 0-465-07821-4. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=frYrAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 2011-04-23. "Video game machines have an average weekly take of $109 per machine. The video arcade industry took in $8 billion in quarters in 1982, surpassing pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion, $10 billion if cassette sales and rentals are included). Those 32 billion arcade games played translate to 143 games for every man, woman, and child in America. A recent Atari survey showed that 86 percent of the US population from 13 to 20 has played some kind of video game and an estimated 8 million US homes have video games hooked up to the television set. Sales of home video games were $3.8 billion in 1982, approximately half that of video game arcades."
  57. Encyclopedia of New Media, p. 197
  58. [23] [24] [25]
  59. George Lucas and the Digital Revolution, 2006
  60. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n1_v30/ai_9349308
  61. 61.0 61.1 1979
  62. Electronic Education, Volume 2, Issues 5-8, p. 50, 1983 [26] [27]
  63. Coin-Op history — 1975 to 1998 — from the pages of RePlay
  64. Customers getting pickier about electronic games (December 16, 1980)
  65. 1978
  66. The Video Game Invasion (December 18, 1981)
  67. The Video Game Explosion: A History from PONG to Playstation and Beyond, p. 105, 2008
  68. 1977
  69. ThirdWay, p. 26, April 2003
  70. Electronic Toys Taking A Beating (December 17, 1980)
  71. 1976
  72. TV Games Probed, Reading Eagle (December 21, 1976)
  73. 1975
  74. 1974
  75. 1973
  76. "Magnavox Sues Firms Making Video Games, Charges Infringement". The Wall Street Journal. April 17, 1974. http://archive.is/lnZkL. "games of all kinds were sold last year by American manufacturers for a total of at least S40 million."
  77. 1972
  78. 1971
  79. 1970
  80. CPI Inflation Calculator. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved on 2012-02-22.
  81. http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/seriousbusiness.pdf
  82. 45% of European market ($6.78 billion) = $3.05 billion
  83. Turi, Tim (December 21, 2009). "Gain Knowledge From Guinness 2010 Gamer's Edition". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2009-12-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20091223064711/www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/12/21/gear-guinness-2010-gamer-s-edition-has.aspx.
  84. https://www.vox.com/2016/7/19/12212052/pokemon-go-pikachu-joe-biden
  85. 85.0 85.1 https://today.yougov.com/ratings/technology/fame/video-games/
  86. https://web.archive.org/web/20220528202645/www.casino.org/features/video-game-characters/
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