Video game sales have developers and gamers asking, “What recession?”
In April, “Grand Theft Auto IV,” one of the most anticipated games of the year, sold more than 6 million copies in its first week, generating more than $500 million for its publisher, Take-Two Interactive, which owns Hunt Valley’s Firaxis Games.
The launch was the biggest for a video game, and one of the most profitable weeks in all of entertainment, at a time when consumers are curbing their spending in the face of high gas, energy and food prices.
“When you get right down to it, people are making conscious decisions on how to spend their entertainment dollars,” said Rich White, senior vice president of research for the Entertainment Software Association.
The decision to spend $30 for a movie ticket, popcorn and a soda or $25 on a new book isn’t as valuable as a $50 video game, said Tim Train, president of Big Huge Games.
“Your entertainment value per dollar is incredible,” Train said. “Take a game like ‘Grand Theft Auto.’ You can literally play that game for 100 hours.”
And the business keeps growing.
Computer and video game companies posted record sales in 2007, and from 2003 to 2006, the entertainment software industry grew at an annual rate of 17 percent, while the entire U.S. economy grew at annual rate less than 4 percent, according to the ESA.
“To watch this industry, we’re still at the tip of the iceberg,” said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games.
“Halo 3,” the top-selling of 2007, grossed more than $170 million in the United States on its first day of sales, outperforming the biggest opening weekend for a movie — “Spider-Man 3” — and the biggest one-day book sale — the final Harry Potter book.
“The business as a whole is currently stronger than it’s ever been,” said Doug Whatley, founder and chief executive officer of BreakAway Games.
[email protected]
