Today, more than 51 percent of all American households have a dedicated game console, with an average of 2 consoles per home. Although video gaming has only become popular in the last century, it is one of the largest-growing hobbies today, with the average gamer age being 30. 32% of all gamers today are under the age of 18, with 32% of all gamers falling between the ages of 18 and 35 and 36% of total users gaming over the age of 36. Because of the wide demographic gaming appeals to, the industry grossed more than $20.77 billion on games alone in 2012.
More than 43% of all people who enjoy playing games say they believe gaming and using computers to play give more value for their money over shopping and going out to the movies.
Top Games of 2012
Some of top gaming titles of 2012 are still selling today. The top game of 2012 was Call of Duty: Black Ops II, for the PC, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360. Other top games of 2012 included Madden NFL 13, Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III and Just Dance 4. Additionally, NBA 2K13, Borderlands 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and FIFA Soccer 13 all made the list of the top games of 2012 altogether.
Big Names in the Biz
One of the biggest video game publishers known worldwide today is EA, also known as Electronic Arts, founded originally in 1982 out of Redwood City, California. The best-selling franchises from EA itself include Need For Speed, selling over 150 million units, alongside The Sims with the same number of copies sold. Additionally, FIFA and Madden NFL have also sold more than 100 million units, with Battlefield selling 28 million units in just a few years.
Activision is another well-known game developer, originally founded out of Santa Monica, California in 1979. In 2012, Activision generated more than $4.857 billion in revenue from selling its games. Its top-selling games include Call of Duty, with more than 162.84 million units sold altogether in the game’s series. Other games from Activision include Guitar Hero, the James Bond series and Tony Hawk.
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