VNU may provide US game market data

A report on the Reuters news service has suggested that market data firm VNU, which produces the widely used Nielsen TV ratings in the USA, may be set to begin tracking US sales of videogames.

The report follows the news earlier this year that VNU is working with Activision to create a set of metrics for tracking the effectiveness of in-game advertising, a market which is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

At present, only NPD tracks US videogame sales, but according to Nielsen Interactive Entertainment general manager Michael Dowling, the firm is pursuing the idea of launching a competing service to NPD's data "pretty aggressively."

"Ultimately a competitor to NPD, whether it's us or someone else, is going to make the market better for everybody," he told Reuters.