The US game industry raked in $37 billion in 2017 according to a press release from the Entertainment Software Association.
The Entertainment Software Association (or ESA) is an organization that represents the interests of US video game hardware and software producers. The ESA is responsible for the creation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) and E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo). Among their industry efforts is the publication of data relating to the industry as a whole, and the numbers for 2017 have just been released by the organization.
2017 has shaped up to be a good year for the industry overall with $37 billion in total revenue. Hardware & peripheral sales clocked in at $6.9 billion compared to $5.8 billion in 2016. Software sales (which includes in-game purchases like microtransactions and subscription services) made $29.1 billion compared to last year's $24.6 billion. Overall, the US game industry has seen an 18% increase in revenue in the last year.
This isn't the whole picture, unfortunately. Some data has not been included in the revenue totals put forth by the ESA. It's lacking numbers for digital sales on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS and PC digital sales from Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Battle.net, Origin, and uPlay. This means that the actual number of sales is likely higher than what was mentioned in the ESA's report on US game industry revenue; they simply don't have the data.
2017 has had its hiccups in terms of game hardware and software sales, but it also had its fair share of successes. Nintendo sold over 10 million of their Nintendo Switch consoles in less than a year of release and newer game franchises like Overwatch surged past a billion dollars in revenue.
What do you think of the ESA's report on US game industry revenue for 2017? Do you think the gaming industry will continue to grow or is it due for a downturn (or worse, a crash)? Let us know in the comments below!