Number of game console users in the U.S. 2012-2017
Console gaming– additional information
The Holiday season in the United States is the time when gaming companies can be sure to make money. The data clearly shows that all gaming industry segment revenues spike during this time of year. That includes hardware sales as well, so it comes as no surprise that both Sony and Microsoft chose November 2013 to introduce their new generation consoles, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively. Within the following year, those two platforms, as well as Nintendo’s Wii U, experienced a significant growth in unit sales to nearly double the amount. It might also be presumed that the introduction of the PS4 and Xbox One to the market affected the number of game console users in the United States, since between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 the user count grew by nearly five million.
The usage of console games has been changing throughout the years with popular demand being focused on multiplatform devices. So nowadays a gaming console is not solely used for gaming. Although 25 percent of respondents who own this device devote their weekly console time to playing games, both online and offline, it is now common to use consoles to watch video content or stream music. However, when it comes to gaming, sources report that PS4 and Wii U console gamers play offline games more often, while Xbox One owners are more likely to play online games. It explains the fact that digital games industry revenues generated by console games reached more than 900 million U.S. dollars in 2014.