The fast-paced and hyper-competitive gaming industry isn’t exactly known for its stability.
In fact, it’s collapsed quite a few times throughout its history, sometimes abruptly, without a gradual drop off, like when Atari had its biggest period in the early eighties, then seemingly went down the toilet overnight.
With economy in a shambles, the gaming biz has gone through more subsequent ups and downs, which is certainly to be expected.
However, Variety recently reported that in spite of the business being in a slump, there are some definite profits out there, “with digital dollars boosting bottom lines.”
As Marc Grasser points out, Ubisoft made a profit of close to $48 million for the Tom Clancy game Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, where last year the company lost $67 mil. He also reports that revenue is up to $1.4 billion thanks to their hit titles like Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Rayman, and Driver. And yes, the business has digital sales and downloads to thank for a significant portion of the profits.
This is also a good sign for the future, where the next game consoles will undoubtedly connect people online and utilize social networking.
Variety also notes the situation looks especially promising for gaming because even though there’s been less “tentpole” titles so far this year, there are games based on Battleship and The Amazing Spider-Man. Also coming up in the winter are Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which will go head to head with Halo 4.
