Game Industry News
In the dark over game sales
Tuesday, 25, May, 2010
The video game industry's peak body is concerned that the lack of accurate sales data will damage its campaign for an R18+ games classification in Australia.For many years video gaming lobbyists have used market sales data to help demonstrate the legitimacy of the interactive entertainment industry, but now two market-leading game sellers, JB Hi-Fi and EB Games, refuse to supply market research group GfK with any retail data.
JB Hi-Fi currently has over 120 stores around Australia, while EB Games has over 350 stores. Both represent a significant share of the video games market in this country.Last year over $2 billion was spent on video game hardware and software in Australia - a new record. But this year the actual sales will be unknown.Since January, GfK has stopped publishing its weekly Top 10 best selling games lists.