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Aussie game sales down 19%

Laura Parker
By Laura Parker, Associate Editor

NPD data from January-June 2012 showed physical video game retail sales decline; price drops across hardware and software good news for the industry.

Sales of physical video game sales across Australia experience a decline of 19.5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2012, according to figures from NPD released today.

According to the data, total sales for the local video game industry for January-June 2012 were $465.6 million, compared to $578.6 million for the same period in 2011. NPD local analyst Andrew Milgate described the software market shrink came as a result of a lack of new content.

"One of the reasons for the decline was a lack of new software released in the first half compared to last year," Milgate told GameSpot AU. "The number of new software SKUs in the market was down 30 percent, which was similar to the drop in new releases in the US (down 34 percent)."

However, the number of units sold only dropped by 2.8 percent, a fact Milgate attributes to a lowering of average game prices. Hardware prices also experienced a drop: according to NPD, the average price of hardware dropped by $51 in the first half of 2012. This lowered price led to a growth in units for HD consoles, in particular the PlayStation 3, which Milgate said saw a double-digit increase.

Despite the overall market loss, both PC Games and gaming peripherals increased in value and units during the period.

NPD also released a list of the top ten best-selling video games in Australia between January-June 2012, across all platforms including PC. Diablo III topped the list, followed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Mass Effect 3.

The full list can be found below.

Top ten video games sold in Australia, January-June 2012
1. Diablo III
2. Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3
3. Mass Effect 3
4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
5. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure
6. Battlefield 3
7. Max Payne 3
8. Assassins Creed Revelations
9. Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
10. Saints Row The Third

Laura Parker
By Laura Parker, Associate Editor

Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.

20 comments
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aamir69
aamir69

Because everything in Australia is so damn expensive, what do you expect? Diablo 3 is 88$

xXrebel666Xx
xXrebel666Xx like.author.displayName 1 Like

I'll bet Aussie game sales have increased it just doesn't reflect in the sales because we're sick of paying the overly inflated prices just to buy local when we can buy offshore without the 60-100% markups we get down here. I just see it as a big up yours to the giant game publishers that think it's okay to rip us off when our dollar is now at parity.

vault-boy
vault-boy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Maybe if there government wasn't a bunch of idiotic douchebags who think that every 12 year old is a murderer waiting to happen and if companies didn't fuck them over with delays and inflated prices this wouldn't be a problem. Sorry for you aussies.

famekiller
famekiller

I brought a few games during that period, but i never got one game off that list.

SadPSPAddict
SadPSPAddict

Interesting statistics as always I think

BludshedX
BludshedX like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

Top ten video games refunded in Australia, January-June 2012

1. Diablo III

2...

flammable_zeus
flammable_zeus

 @BludshedX If you could get a refund for Diablo 3, Blizzard would go broke. Unless masses of people still think that they actually like it, I guess.

Nintendo_Man
Nintendo_Man like.author.displayName 1 Like

The others sold well so it is no surprise though the London version sucks, Beijing was better.

deathjestar
deathjestar

Mario and Sonic beat saints row the third.... am i the only one to wtf this?

TBoneTony
TBoneTony

I meant Soul Calibur 5, not 4 as I originally posted in my last comment

TBoneTony
TBoneTony

And yet this was my list of games I brought in the first half of this year.

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Soul Calibur 4

Catherine

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2

Altier Merimu

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extended

Warriros Orochi 3

Last Story

Pandora's Tower

 

All the other games I got were budget or Pre Owned games I got from GAME before they closed as well as the EB Games mid year sales in June.

 

And yet out of all the games I did get that were either original or niche market, none of them ever appeared in the top 10.

illmatic87
illmatic87

 @TBoneTony I never thought i'd see the day of a Final Fantasy game being called niche. Didnt even crack the top 10

ts997
ts997

analyst tend to leave out digital sales because they don't have the info or its not accurate, their is a lack of content but its not time to run for the hills its just a cycle gap in game release.

Nintendo_Man
Nintendo_Man

Diablo has done amazingly well considering it is only on PC and not consoles (plus was only released late in that period).

illmatic87
illmatic87

 @Nintendo_Man Those are just the Retail sales, too and this time, the region locking wasnt so strict, so there were probably a fair few importers.

 

I didht think it would do that well, either, considering such circumstances.

 

Jelleyicious
Jelleyicious like.author.displayName 1 Like

main reason is because games in Australia have have 20-50% markup on US prices despite the Aussie dollar being on parity with US dollar. 

Ayzed
Ayzed

Wouldn't be cause not many good games have come out this year? and don't untill october/november?

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