From CNET: In the same month in which the video game industry held one of its largest conferences dedicated to upcoming titles, sales of physical games and game hardware jumped to record highs for the year.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the marketing extravaganza dedicated to the video game industry's biggest titles of the year was held in Los Angeles this June. Some of the biggest game makers, from Microsoft to Sony, and Electronic Arts to Ubisoft, held events to tease upcoming blockbuster titles such as the space-age shooting game "Star Wars Battlefront" and the action adventure title "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate."
The response from consumers appears to be positive as retail sales of physical games on discs and accompanying hardware saw year-over-year growth in June, according to market researcher NPD Group. Overall sales of software, hardware and game accessories in the US grew 18 percent for the month to $869.4 million.
Since the introduction of new game hardware from Microsoft and Sony in November 2013, the retail game industry has been struggling to stabilize itself as it transitions away from old hardware, released a decade ago, to new devices released in the past few years. Sales of these upgraded consoles have been strong, but software sales have fluctuated and, on the whole, have tended to fall from year-ago comparisons. That's due to a lack of enthusiasm and lack of diversity in new games, analysts say, at least those titles that are purchased from US retail outlets like GameStop and Amazon, which is the only segment NPD tracks.
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