The U.S. Game Industry Made Billions In 2015

According to a recent statement from the Entertainment Software Association, the U.S. game industry is worth quite a bit more money than many may expect. A joint report released by the ESA and research firm the NPD Group revealed that the game industry in the U.S. brought in an estimated $23.5 billion in revenue. Yes, that’s billion, with a “b.”

The initial NPD report claimed that not only were industry revenues more or less unchanged since 2014, but that there was actually a drop in sales during December 2015. The report also indicated that hardware sales, both of home and portable consoles, dropped by 4 percent in 2015. In response, the ESA commissioned an advisory to update the report alongside NPD.

The new joint report found that far from being flat, revenues increased by almost $10 billion from 2014, based on data from Statista.

“Scores of millions of consumers purchase innovative content in myriad ways, including subscription services, digital downloads, and via their mobile devices,” the ESA said, according to Gamesindustry.biz. “Gone are the days when the industry’s growth and strength could be determined by retailers simply reporting packaged good sales. Unfortunately, NPD’s revenue data yesterday continued to reinforce that traditional model at the expense of new areas where the industry is growing.”

The ESA was also quick to point out that the game industry also contributed $6.2 billion to the U.S. economy in 2012, the latest year for which such data is available.

Oh and, because we know you were wondering: The top-selling game of 2015 based on revenue? Call of Duty: Black Ops III.