CGW - Oct. 12 - A Cold Winter for Game Retail

by Wonacott Communications

NPD reports consistently showed a sluggish 2012 in terms of retail and September was no exception with a 24 percent decline. And despite some huge titles on the horizon (Resident Evil 6, Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2), Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz is predicting chilly retail months for the remainder of 2012. Creutz attributes the lack of sales to it being the tail end of the console life cycle. There's a bright future just around the corner though - the Wii U launches Nov. 18, new online-focused Microsoft and Sony consoles could launch as early as next fall. Plus, with the way the industry has been trending, online PC games are poised for a golden year next year - League of Legends alone just hit 32 million global active users.

Speaking of golden years, NPD also released an independent study about mobile gamers, finding that of nearly six thousand people polled, 23 percent of them play games exclusively on mobile phones. Other fun statistic: Of all the mobile gamers polled, they reported 59 percent of the time they spent gaming is on mobile devices; so you may want to check the bathrooms and make sure your employees aren't getting a quick game in. The most interesting news from the report - nearly 30 percent of mobile gamers in 2012 spent money on upgrading a free app to paid or made an in-game purchase.

Finally, in the "about damn time" column, is this piece of news gamers have been waiting for since the launch of the Xbox 360,Microsoft is phasing out the unregulated currency of Microsoft Points(confirmed!). Microsoft's bid for controlling the entire living room involves heavy integration between Windows 8 and the Xbox 360, leading them to move towards local currency instead of faux money. Finally, DLC, online avatars, and all things Xbox will be done without a monetary intermediary. It's just, y'know, seven years late.

Check out the links below for more news from the world of online gaming in this edition of the CGW, and have a great weekend! 

The Industry
Investors Abandoning Social Games
Year-to-Date Game Acquisitions Reach an All-Time High
Analyst: Industry Sales to Decline Through 2012
10 Social Game Lessons from 2012
Twenty-Three Percent of App Gamers Only Play on Mobile
This is the Future of Free-to-Play
Developers Question the Ethics of Free-to-Play Design at GDC Online
Game Industry Sales Down 24 Percent in US During September - NPD
Business Skills You Can Learn from Video Games

The Players
Words With Friends Co-Creators Leave Zynga
OnLive Assets Sold for $4.8 Million
Gaikai Sued Over Alleged Streaming Patent Infringement
Backbone Entertainment Faces Closure
Kill3rCombo Updates Popular Dungeon and Offers Improved Pet System

The Entertainment
Crazy Taxi Going Mobile
Angry Birds Star Wars Launches November 8
Rayman Legends Delayed to Q1 2013
Zynga's Cityville 2 in Closed Beta
League of Legends: 32 Million Monthly Global Active Players
 

The Technologies
Report: Microsoft Points No Longer the Only Way to Pay with Windows 8
Xbox 360 Sells 270,000 Units in U.S. During September
We Could Control Future Computers and Video Games Using a 3D Motion Tracking Wristband

Upcoming Industry Events
GDC Online, Austin, Oct. 10-13
New York Comic-Con, New York, Oct. 11-14
Digital Hollywood Fall, Los Angeles, Oct. 15-18
G-Star, Busan, Korea, Nov. 8-11
Digital Hollywood, New York, Nov. 15-16
CES, Las Vegas, Jan. 8-11, 2013
SXSW, Austin, March 8-17, 2013
GDC, San Francisco, March 25-29, 2013