14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group, which offers monthly sales data for the United States hardware and video game markets, has announced that it will begin offering data linked to digital sales in an effort to create a better picture of the video game industry and its evolution.
Anita Frazier, who is an analyst for the NPD Group, has told GamesIndustry.biz that, “We are expanding the number of digital retailers we have relationships with in order to develop a digital POS.”
She added, “The goal is to provide our clients with a total POS games tracking service that incorporates the growing digital channel as well as the currently predominant physical format, and to deliver this at the same frequency as we currently do for new physical retail sales.”
It's not clear how the NPD Group will gather the data needed for the digital distribution statistics, considering that most digital distributors are not eager to make their sales data public.
Analysts are estimating that digital distribution accounts for about 40 percent of the United States video game market, and the NPD Group believes that more transparency is necessary and will benefit both the customers and the companies involved.
The NPD Group move could be seen as an answer to recent remarks made by a representative from publisher Electronic Arts, who said that the NPD data is misrepresenting the state of the entire video game industry after the release of the most recent data, that for February.
Digital distribution is becoming more important than ever, with progress helped by the ever-increasing speed that most Internet connections are offering and by the increasing popularity of PC-based services like Steam, Direct2Drive, Gamersgate and Impulse.
Sony and Microsoft are also offering more downloadable titles on Xbox Live and on the PlayStation Network for those gamers who are not interested in going to the store for their favorite games.