PC Gamer

ironkross · 12-03-05, 11:49 PM

I got my January issue today. I checked out the Sim Column. This month it's about market shares of simulation games. The writer got hold of U.S. POS figures thru 9/05 from NPD Funworld. MS Flight Sim 2004 is head and shoulders above any other game selling 677,300 units for $28.4 mil. Based on Microsoft having the distribution muscle to place the game up on the front shelf of every store in the USA and having a top $ dev team. So it's very hard for other game developers to compete on a tilted playing field.
He mentions SH III, (SH 3 if you will) as having "fared a little better, yielding $2.2 million in only six months." Indeed SHIII is the second sim in sales dollars and units sold listed on his Total US sales chart. 57,500 units sold.
He goes on to talk about some developers abandoning the retail chain and going to "digital distribution" ie. net sales and downloads( "gaining steam in the racing sim world.) He does say don't write off hardcore flight and racing "niche" sims yet as "Numbers don't tell the whole story."

12-03-05, 11:49 PM	#1
ironkross Lieutenant Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Seneca, SC, USA Posts: 251 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	PC Gamer I got my January issue today. I checked out the Sim Column. This month it's about market shares of simulation games. The writer got hold of U.S. POS figures thru 9/05 from NPD Funworld. MS Flight Sim 2004 is head and shoulders above any other game selling 677,300 units for $28.4 mil. Based on Microsoft having the distribution muscle to place the game up on the front shelf of every store in the USA and having a top $ dev team. So it's very hard for other game developers to compete on a tilted playing field. He mentions SH III, (SH 3 if you will) as having "fared a little better, yielding $2.2 million in only six months." Indeed SHIII is the second sim in sales dollars and units sold listed on his Total US sales chart. 57,500 units sold. He goes on to talk about some developers abandoning the retail chain and going to "digital distribution" ie. net sales and downloads( "gaining steam in the racing sim world.) He does say don't write off hardcore flight and racing "niche" sims yet as "Numbers don't tell the whole story." __________________ If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.