$5.9 billion spent on games in US in Q1 2011
$1.85 billion on second hand, DLC, mobiles games and subscriptions
A new report from The NPD Group puts the total spent on games in the first quarter of 2011 at a massive £5.9 billion.
In Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend, The NPD Group puts consumer spending on physical game software (as opposed to rental or digital) at $2.03 billion. Other methods like rentals, subscriptions, micro transactions, digital downloads, DLC and mobile games are estimated to account for $1.85 billion.
Overall spending on games is up by 1.5 per cent on the first quarter of 2010.
The report uses a mixture of retail tracking, consumer research and estimates from retailers and publishers.
"While the new physical retail channel still generates the majority of industry sales, our expanded research coverage allows us to assess the total consumer spend across the growing number of ways to acquire and experience gaming, including mobile apps and downloadable content," said Anita Frazier, NPD industry analyst.
"Through a combination of point-of-sale and consumer research tracking, The NPD Group is providing an expanded, more comprehensive measure of a dynamic and rapidly evolving games industry."