A recent report published by Top Global Markets, a combined monthly report from leading providers of the video games industry consumer and retail information, The NPD Group, GfK, Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain Inc., shows that combined video game software sales across the world’s largest three markets had a 1 percent growth Q3 (July-Spetember) 2008.

The United Kingdom took the show, with a remarkable 15 percent growth rate, the US coming in a second at 8 percent.  To clarify, the UK has a skewed growth rate pattern though, as a 26 percent gain was experienced in console software, while portable software dropped 1 percent.  The US on the other hand might be a better indicator, with console software shipping plus 6 percent and portable software growing 10 percent.

“Taking into consideration the marked differences between the 3 territories, the UK market in particular is gearing up for a best-ever Q4 performance overall, even under the well-documented financial climate,” said Dorian Bloch, Business Group Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited.  “We fully expect UK consumers to drive sales for the full year to unprecedented heights, especially considering the line-up of exciting single and multi-format new franchises currently hitting the market, not to mention the evergreen portfolio of Nintendo-published Wii & DS titles which have done such a great job of expanding the market to a far more mainstream consumer.”

The US market, however, was the only sector to experience positive growth YOY with an 5 percent growth in Q3 ’07 and 8 percent Q3 ’08.  The UK, on the other hand, is experiencing explosive console software sales, but actually diminished growth YOY – a 34 percent increase in Q3 ’07 vs. a 15 percent increase in Q3 ’08.

“In the U.S., third quarter total industry unit sales grew 8 percent versus 2007, even as the economy showed accelerating signs of recession,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.  “As would be expected at this point in the console lifecycle, games sales are starting to take the spotlight even as the average retail prices of games increased slightly.  Heading into the critical fourth quarter, the U.S. games industry is on solid ground.”

And then there’s Japan.

Most, if not all of our consoles are pumped out of Japan at an astonishing rate.  The flat performance of unit sales in Nippon cast a wave upon the Japanese software market, currently being felt across the industry.  Q3 ’08 shows a dramatic 21 percent overall decrease YOY, with consol software taking the biggest hit at 33 percent, portable software at 13 percent.

“Japan did experience sales declines in both software categories, but it is important to keep in mind that not only is Japan a more mature market than the U.S. and UK, but 2007 was a banner year for the Japanese software market, with the titles released in the third quarter of 2008 not being as highly anticipated as those released during the same time period in 2007,” said Ricky K Tanimoto, Global Marketing Analyst, Enterbrain, Inc. “Also, software titles generally have stronger launch sales in Japan, which represent a large percentage of the total sales in Japan compared to the U.S. and UK. In regards to expectations for the remainder of the calendar year, we estimate overall video game sales in Japan this holiday season will not be greatly affected by the world financial crisis, especially in the portable space. Portable software sales are particularly strong, and new portable hardware systems like Sony’s PSP-3000 and Nintendo’s DSi will prove to be driving market forces in Japan throughout the 2008 holiday season.”

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