Video games in the United States
Overview of the video game system in America / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Video gaming in the United States is one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries in the country. The American video game industry is the largest video game industry in the world. According to a 2020 study released by the Entertainment Software Association, the yearly economic output of the American video game industry in 2019 was $90.3 billion, supporting over 429,000 American jobs. With an average yearly salary of about $121,000, the latter figure includes over 143,000 individuals who are directly employed by the video game business. Additionally, activities connected to the video game business generate $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes each year.[1] World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025 the American gaming industry will reach $42.3 billion while worldwide gaming industry will possibly reach US$270 billion.[2][3] The United States is one of the nations with the largest influence in the video game industry, with video games representing a significant part of its economy.
Major publishers headquartered in the United States are Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft Gaming (consist of Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks and Activision Blizzard), Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Epic Games, Valve, Warner Bros. Games, Riot Games, and others.[4] Major video game events such as E3, BlizzCon, QuakeCon, Summer Game Fest and PAX are held every year in the US. For many years, E3, held annually in the US, was considered the biggest gaming expo of the year in terms of its importance and impact.[5] The Game Awards, The New York Game Awards, and D.I.C.E. Awards are some of the most respected video game awards events in the video game industry. 103 million people watched The Game Awards 2022 event alone.[6] The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is still the largest and one of the most important video game conferences for video game developers.[7]
In statistics collected by The ESA for the year 2013, a reported 58% of Americans play video games and the average American household now owns at least one dedicated game console, PC or smartphone.[8] According to estimates from Nielsen Media Research, approximately 45.7 million U.S. households in 2006 (or approximately 40 percent of approximately 114.4 million) owned a dedicated home video game console,[9][10] and by 2015, 51 percent of U.S. households owned a dedicated home video game console according to an Entertainment Software Association annual industry report.[11][12] The households that own these items play games most commonly on their console or PC. 36% of U.S. gamers play on their smartphones.[8] 43% of video game consumers believe games give them the most value for their money compared to other common forms of entertainment such as movies, or music.[8] In 2011, the average American gamer spent an average of 13 hours per week playing video games.[13] In 2013, almost half of Americans who were gaming more than they did in 2010 spent less time playing board games, watching TV, going to the movies, and watching movies at home.[8] When Americans game, 62% do so with others online or in person, yet the other person is more likely to be a friend than a significant other or family member.[8] The most common reason parents play video games with their children is as a fun family activity, or because they are asked to. 52% of parents believe video games are a positive part of their child's life, and 71% of parents with children under 18 see gaming as beneficial to mental stimulation or education.[8]
The number of mobile game players in the US is higher than it has ever been at more than 191 million people, or 57.3% of the population.[14]
The average age of a U.S. gamer is 35, the average number of years a U.S. gamer has been playing games is 13.[8] In 2021, it was reported that the age distribution of U.S. gamers were 20% under the 18 years old, 38% were in between 18 and 34 years old, 14% were in between 35 and 44 years old, 12% were in between 45 and 54 years old, 9% were in between 55 and 64 years old, and 7% were 65 years old or over.[15] The American gamer population is 54% male and 46% female. Of those females, women 18 and older account for a greater portion of the population than males younger than 18.[8] The average female video game player is 44 years old, while the average male video game player is 35.[16][17]
The best-selling console video game genres of 2022 were action, shooters, and sports. The PC gaming market's best-selling genres were role-playing, strategy, and casual. For online games, the most popular genres are puzzle/trivia, action/strategy, and casual/social games.[8] While there are many American video game developers that have been producing games for years, Japanese video games and companies have regularly been listed in the annual lists of best sellers.[18] In December 2022, American consumers spent $7.6 billion on video gaming content, hardware, and accessories, up 2% from the previous month and bringing total expenditure for the year to $56.6 billion. The unit sales growth featured a similar drop with the report of 188 million units sold from 245.9 in 2021. U.S. gaming consumers spent a total of $20.77 billion on the game industry alone and currently hard copies of video games are still dominating in sales compared to digital copies.[8] 2022 saw inexorable expansion in the gaming sector, particularly in online and mobile gaming. A fundamental shift in mentality is also occurring, with games now being viewed as venues for creativity, self-expression, and socialization. While major IT firms are developing their own meta-universes, new gaming technologies such as AR, VR, and MR are changing the industry.[19]
Best-selling video games
The following titles are the top ten best-selling video games in the United States, according to sales figures from The NPD Group. The list covers console games and PC games, but does not include console pack-in game bundles, arcade video games, mobile games, or free-to-play titles. Among the top ten titles, six were developed or published by Japanese company Nintendo, two published by American company Activision, and two from British developer Rockstar North and American publisher Rockstar Games.
Best-selling video games by year
The following titles are the top-selling video game titles in the United States annually since 1980, with sales figures from The NPD Group since 1994.[29][30]
Among the 41 reported annual top-sellers between 1980 and 2022, thirteen were published by Nintendo, twelve by Activision Blizzard, four each by Atari and Take-Two Interactive, three by Electronic Arts, and two each by Sega and Acclaim Entertainment.
1940s
The beginning of video games can be traced to the year 1940, when American nuclear physicist Edward Condon designed a computer capable of playing the traditional game Nim. This device would have tens of thousands of people play it even though the computer won 90% of the time. Seven years later an American television pioneer, Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr., patented an oscilloscope displayed device that challenged players to fire a gun at a target.[67]
1950s
At the start of the 1950s another American, Claude Shannon, wrote basic guidelines on programming a computer.[67] Although OXO was created in England by the year 1952, the findings and inventions of the Americans described helped make it possible.[68] The U.S. military dove into the computer age with the creation of a game titled Hutspiel. Considered a war game, Hutspiel depicted NATO and Soviet commanders waging war. The IBM 701 computer received programs such as Blackjack and Checkers. A later IBM model featured a chess program that was capable of evaluating four ply ahead. The 1950s also included the largely forgotten tennis game created by Willy Higinbotham that anticipated the famous game Pong.[67]
1960s
The military continued to take part in video gaming in the 1960s when, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis The Defense Department created a war game known as STAGE (Simulation of Total Atomic Global Exchange). STAGE was created to be political propaganda that showcased how the U.S. would be victorious in a Thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union.[67] The idea of video games that were usable on televisions was conceived by the engineer Ralph Baer and with the help of a team, Baer completed two successful TV games in this decade. The first interactive media computer game, Spacewar, eventually had the future founders of Atari create an arcade game of it titled Computer Space that became the first video arcade game ever released.[67][69]
1970s
The 1970s included the birth of the video game console. The first console released was titled Magnavox Odyssey and the foundation of Atari occurred around the same time, marking the start of Pong's development. Upon Pong's completion it became the hottest selling Christmas product of 1975. The evolution of the console was incredibly rapid. A few years after their invention, consoles received microprocessors and programmable ROM cartridge based games, allowing users the ability to change games by simply switching cartridges. Important consoles released at this time were the Telstar, Fairchild Channel F, and Atari 2600. Arcade games also received advances with the game Space Invaders, which allowed high scores to be tracked and displayed. A year later the game Asteroids built on the idea and gave high scorers the ability to enter initials by their scores.[67][69]
1980s
The technological advances of the late 1970s led to the introduction of the Intellivision in 1980, which featured better video game graphics but a higher price tag. In two years, the Commodore 64 changed the market by not only being the most powerful console of the time but also the cheapest. With the lowered prices, popularity of the video game industry continued to grow and the first video game magazine, Electronic Games, was printed. However, attempts to copycat on the success of the Atari 2600 saturated the market, and the video game crash of 1983 decimated the industry in the United States. With the American-produced games on the downswing, Nintendo successfully launched the Nintendo Entertainment System in America in 1985, revitalizing the market with the introduction of the third and fourth generation of home consoles such as the Master System, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, Atari 7800, and the TurboGrafx-16, with systems transitioning to support 3D graphics and support for optical media rather than cartridges.[67][69]
1990s
The 1990s saw the introduction of the Super NES, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Tamagotchi, and Dreamcast, whose sales brought the damaged video game industry back to life. During this decade, the PlayStation was considered the most popular console when its 20 millionth unit sold. In 1993, the video game industries' first debate began and its focus was on violence found in video games. This debate fueled Senator Joseph Lieberman's desire to ban all violent games and from this investigation the Entertainment Software Rating Board was created in 1994; giving all games a printed suggested age rating on their packaging.[67][69][70]
2000s
The 2000s brought Sony even more popularity when its PlayStation 2 had such a high American consumer demand that it actually affected the console's availability to be purchased during the first few shipments; the PlayStation 2 remains the best-selling console of all time in the United States. Microsoft and Nintendo also saw this popularity with the release of their own sixth and seventh generation of consoles, the Xbox and GameCube, respectively. Mass availability of the Internet introduced online connectivity on consoles for multiplayer games as well as digital storefronts to sell games. Digital storefronts also enabled the growth of the indie game market, expanding from computers onto consoles over this decade. Motion control-enabled games, popularized by the Wii console, grew in popularity.[67][69] According to estimates from Nielsen Media Research, approximately 45.7 million U.S. households in 2006 (or approximately 40 percent of approximately 114.4 million) owned a dedicated home video game console.[71][72]
2010s
Within the 2010s, a larger shift towards casual and mobile gaming on smartphones and tablets became significant, in part due to a wider demographic of video game players drawing in more female and older players.[73] The concept of Games as a service, emerged as a trend for developers and publishers to have long-tail monetization of a game well after release. Continuing from the previous decade, a large number of independently developed video games emerged as games on par with those from major publishers, made easier to promote and distribute through digital storefronts on personal computers, consoles, and mobile store markets. All three major console manufacturers released next generation consoles: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. Major developments in mixed reality games - both augmented reality and virtual reality - grew in popularity during the 2010s as the cost of required hardware dropped. Esports became a significant market in the United States after its initial popularity in Eastern Asia countries. In 2015, 51 percent of U.S. households owned a dedicated home video game console according to an Entertainment Software Association annual industry report.[74][75]
2020s
Microsoft and Sony have released their successors to their eighth generation consoles in November 2020, the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. Both systems support high-definition graphics, real-time ray-tracing, game streaming and cloud-based gaming. Nintendo has continued with their Nintendo Switch at the beginning of this decade.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown causing people to stay in their homes, people picked up video games which caused a big boom in sales throughout 2019 all the way into 2021. The NPD Group reported that video game sales in North America in March 2020 were up 34% from those in March 2019, video game hardware up by 63%.[76] Game companies also saw this as an opportunity to expand what they could do to entertain, so Epic Games hosted the first and second ever live in-game concert through Fortnite, first with Marshmello and second with "an in-game Travis Scott concert saw over 12 million concurrent views from players".[77]
The American video game industry experienced significant resurgence in mergers and acquisitions between 2020 and 2024. Video game companies anticipated that the substantial growth observed during the pandemic would persist afterward, prompting many firms to explore mergers and acquisitions. Between 2020 and 2024, 8 out of the 20 most expensive video game acquisitions in history were made by American publishers, with major American publishers such as Microsoft Gaming, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Take-Two Interactive, and Electronic Arts each making at least one acquisition.
There have been widespread layoffs in the US video game business starting in 2023 and going into 2024.[78] The layoffs were the result of multiple causes coming together, rather than occurring all at once. The COVID-19 epidemic drove up demand for video games.[79] In anticipation of continued growth, this prompted businesses to make large investments in staff expansion, mergers, and acquisitions. But when the market recovered and the world opened up, the quick development proved unsustainable, and businesses were forced to make cuts as their operating costs ballooned. According to Mat Piscatella, Executive Director of Circana (The NPD Group), the most optimistic forecast for the American video game industry in 2024 forecasts a possible decline of roughly 2%. On the other hand, a more negative outlook would predict a 10% decrease, with an even bigger drop possible if things become much worse.[80] DDM Games reported that the industry is presently going through a "reset phase." Businesses are using layoffs, divestitures, and closures as a means of reorganizing their operations. Since the growth surge brought on by the epidemic has receded, recalibration is now necessary.[81]
With RPG video game series such as Dungeons & Dragons, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, and first-person shooters series such as Doom, Halo, Half-Life, and BioShock, the American video game industry has heavily influenced the global gaming industry. Some of the best-selling and most popular video games ever made such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, League of Legends, Valorant, CSGO, Dota 2, Apex Legends and Roblox were made in the United States. Some of the most revolutionary video games such as Skyrim, Half-Life, and BioShock, were also made in the United States.[82][83][84] Alongside video games, American companies such as Epic Games have also contributed to the video game industry with high-technology. Unreal Engine and Unity are considered to be one of the best and most popular video game engines of all time.[85] With the rise of Steam in the mid-2010s and easy access to video game making tools and engines, it sparked the rise of Indie games.[86] The United States has some of the largest and most respected and popular video game news cites and journalists in the world. Some of them are Game Informer, Metacritic, IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar+, The Verge, Kotaku, Polygon, and Giantbomb.[87][88] Some of the most respected video game journalists, such as Jason Schreier, are also from the United States.[88][87]
American video game personalities
Some of the most influential video directors, designers, developers, journalists and businesspeople are American. Notable American video game personalities include: Civilization creator Sid Meier; Valve and Steam founder Gabe Newell; The Elder Scrolls producer Todd Howard; Half-Life: Alyx, Firewatch, and The Walking Dead writer Sean Vanaman; The Last of Us creators Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley; Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer; Uncharted creator Amy Hennig; Activision Blizzard former CEO Bobby Kotick; God of War and Twisted Metal co-creator David Jaffe; Double Fine founder Tim Schafer; Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon; God of War (2018) director Cory Barlog; Crash Bandicoot co-creator Jason Rubin; God of War III and Star Wars Jedi director Stig Asmussen; video game journalist Jason Schreier; Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer; inXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo; Doom and Quake creators John Romero and John Carmack; BioShock creator Ken Levine; co-founder of Bungie and Halo and Destiny co-creator, Jason Jones; Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski; Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé; Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra; and game and console designer Mark Cerny.[89]
Criticisms
While the rise of American multiplayer games has grown the global video game industry, many video game journalists and gamers have heavily criticized some of the decisions and changes made by American companies, such as the addition of micro-transactions in video games.[90] After the release and huge success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017, Elden Ring in 2022 and Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023, complaints started pouring in that the American gaming industry was lacking far behind and not investing enough in innovation such as Japanese and European gaming companies.[91][92][93]
Best-selling American games worldwide
This is the list of best selling video games worldwide made by American developers, based on the best selling video games article.