Game developers, take notice. Right now might be a perfect time to unveil that new game you’ve been working on for the past few years.
According to NPD Video Games Industry Analyst Liam Callahan, the headliners of this holiday season’s video game lineup mostly consist of strong sequels — Call of Duty Black Ops, Halo 4, Assassins Creed III.
What’s lacking are new, fresh games that no one has heard of.
“Consumers are starved for new titles on the current generation consoles,” Callahan says in the video above.
Callahan said that there are 25 percent fewer new titles than one year ago. And that’s not the only declining video game statistic out there — sales of new video games fell 25 percent in October, marking the 11th straight month the industry has shown decline.
There is, however, a little bit of optimism. Callahan calls Nintendo’s Wii U the “wild card,” and says one big challenge for the Redmond-based company is to have people experience the new console hands-on, much like we did yesterday in Nintendo’s tour van.
There’s also the potential strength in mobile gaming. Fourth quarter mobile gaming app spending is up 59 percent in the first half of 2012, which is largely due to new smartphones like the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy III, as well as tablets.
Previously on GeekWire: Xbox 360 marks 22 months atop U.S. console market
