Video games market growing rapidly

Gaming industry trade group The Entertainment Software Association recently released a report that video-game software and hardware managed to scoop in more than $25 billion last year. That is compared to $7.3 billion the industry raked in in 2004.

“I still think we have a lot of growth to go, even though we’re at the highest point ever of people playing video games. As we have grown up with video games, it’s just become a normal part of society. Video games did seem weird to our parents when we were young. But now, we’re the old fogies, and it doesn’t even phase us,” said Tal Blevins, vice president of games content at IGN Entertainment.

As an example, last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops didn’t just break entertainment records; it also set the bar for profit.

The Activision game sold 5.6 million copies in 24 hours and grossing $650 million in its first five days. That is bigger than James Cameron’s Titanic and Avatar films, with Avatar managing a modest $77 million in its opening weekend.

“They’ve become blockbusters in the way we traditionally talk about something at the cinema. If you look at the dollars and cents compared to the blockbusters coming out of Hollywood and the publishing world … (video games) are the ones that are knocking it out of the park,” said Rich Taylor, a senior vice president with the Entertainment Software Association.