NPD: %14 of U.S. Households Playing Online
Industry news can be dry to say the least. In the end, the numbers don’t really matter to the people playing the game. However, for those of us who watch the industry to see where its going, this kind of news is gold. Take the multiplayer versus single player debate. Game developers have struggled in recent years to figure out where to set the priority. Mulitplayer games, especially MMO titles, sell very well. Developers and publishers, of course, respond very well to sales figures. So well, in fact, that many purists complain that the focus in game development has shifted away from stellar single player gaming, which to these purists really is the core of any game experience.
Seeing the NPD data that %14 percent of U.S. households are subscribing to online gaming services is sobering news for such old school, single player fanatics. If MMO games continue to sell so well, then games focused on the single player experience will continue to dwindle. Let’s face it, the industry is all about the money. This data from NPD came in conjunction with a report about the state of U.S. media in general. As a whole, electronic media is doing quite well, despite the economic downturn. Print sales, on the other hand, are plummeting.
Source: Gamespot
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