Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities doesn't seem to think the future is too bright for brick and mortar stores.
According to Pachter, a high-profile gaming research analyst for Wedbush Securities, it’s ‘almost a certainty’ that 2011 will be the third year in a row that game retailers will see declining software sales in the US. While he stresses that Black Friday has left November a strong month for software and hardware sales, he suggests we can a decline in these sales year-over-year.
Pachter noted EA and Activision as those most likely to rank as top performing companies this year thanks to the mammoths that are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3, while also citing that Majestico and and Ubisoft will probably do quite well and see ‘solid earnings.’
Bad news for THQ, who Pachter doesn’t think will reach their goals this year due to competition with high ranking games (such as Skyrim) during the Saints Row:The Third release.
Despite a strong start for Nintendo during the holiday season thanks to titles such as Skyward Sword, Pachter is still "pessimistic" that Nintendo will do as well as hoped, due to "few hit titles and much stronger console competition and promotions."
Good news for Gamestop however – Pachter predicts that they’ll meet their sales and earning expectations this holiday season if they can beat price competition.
[Source: Gamasutra]
