NPD Group Will No Longer Release Video Game Sales Data

[ap831]

"In a stunning announcement the NPD Group has revealed they will no longer be releasing monthly video game sales data to the general public. In a statement from the NPD group the company revealed they now will only provide this data to their subscribers. For the record, a subscription to this data is rumored to cost over $15,000 US.

The NPD group has stated that its clients are still free to release sales data as they see fit. Which means companies will continue to provide data on occasion, probably only after the release of a highly successful product."

SOURCE

 

[Fudge]

That sucks. We still got VGChartz.

 

[Rasas]

I really didn't care much for sales data but it was always nice to know a game you bought was also bought by some others giving a higher chance at a sequel or a similar game which was hopefully a tiny bit or a lot better then the original. I suppose there are other places to get the sales information.

 

[RE4zombie]

Sales data was useful for smaller games or ones that didn't appeal to a mass audience. For instance, I don't care about the sales of Wii Party, but the sales of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom or other hardcore Wii games are vital if you want to see even a faint hope that game will get a sequel.

 

[Deadmon]

Didn't something like this happen before in the past?

 

[cwstjdenobs]

Sales figures are too easy to manipulate. You can use the same data to "prove" PC gaming is dying or that WoW has more people on it than are on Live and PSN. Charts can also become self fulfilling prophecies, especially seeing as most stores only carry the top 10/15 games per format, and won't carry titles they don't know in advance will sell well, you end up only been able to buy those games so they keep in the charts. How many times do you see a game at No1 on the day of release at opening before anyone has actually had a chance to pick up a copy and take it to the till? Do you think anyone would buy another rehash like Modern Warfare 3 : Attack of the Towel Heads or NFS:Higgs-Boson if they had the choice?

 

[_Chaz_]

Sales figures are too easy to manipulate. You can use the same data to "prove" PC gaming is dying or that WoW has more people on it than are on Live and PSN. Charts can also become self fulfilling prophecies, especially seeing as most stores only carry the top 10/15 games per format, and won't carry titles they don't know in advance will sell well, you end up only been able to buy those games so they keep in the charts. How many times do you see a game at No1 on the day of release at opening before anyone has actually had a chance to pick up a copy and take it to the till? Do you think anyone would buy another rehash like Modern Warfare 3 : Attack of the Towel Heads or NFS:Higgs-Boson if they had the choice?

What's sad is that is a believable name for a NFS game.