Newzoo Projects Gamers Spent Almost $25 Billion On Games In 2010

The video game market has seen its ups and downs, much like any market in the world has seen, but it looks like it's still doing pretty well for itself, as we close down 2010 and look forward to 2011. Unfortunately, while it may be doing well, it looks like it's actually not as good as 2009. In a new report from Newzoo, a market research firm, total spending in the United States will top at about $24.7 billion, which is actually 2 percent lower when compared 2009.

The report from Newzoo is focusing only video games, and not the consoles gamers are playing them on. And, while the final results from the report may not be as promising as some may like, there's no denying the fact that video games are still making money. What's notable within the report, though, is where gamers are spending their money. While console games still take the majority of the pie, with a total $10.6 billion in total sales (which includes downloadable content (DLC) and handhelds) and accounting for 43% of the total, it's looking more and more like gamers are spreading their money around, and buying games in varying ways.

Perhaps not surprising to most, social network-based gaming, and gaming on mobile devices saw some of the biggest increases from 2009. Social network gaming will see a projected $1.5 billion in total sales within 2010, which is a staggering 66 percent increase versus the year before. While mobile devices will see a projected increase of 46% over 2009, with total sales of $1.6 billion. Downloading games from the PC or Mac also saw an increase of 60%, with projectes sales targeted at $2.5 billion.

What's your take? Will we see better sales in 2011?

[via Gamasutra]