Canadian Videogame Industry Experiencing Continued Strong Sales

Industry analyst NPD Group says the Canadian videogame industry is experiencing another year of record-breaking retail sales.

Retail videogame sales in Canada have reached $498 million year to date in 2007, according to NPD figures, an increase of 61 percent over the previous year’s mark of $310 million over the same period. Videogame hardware, including console and portable systems, topped $205 million, an increase of 111 percent, while console and portable software sales hit $205.5 million. Accessories sales jumped 68 percent to $62 million.

“The videogame industry in Canada is strong and continues to perform extraordinarily well,” said NPD Group Director of Technology and Entertainment Darrel Ryce. “This marks the fifth consecutive mid-year time period in Canada when sales were higher than the same time period from the previous year. What is so exceptional about year-to-date 2007 is that the growth is so significant.”

Renowned as a nation of hewers of wood and drawers of water, Canada has also recently attracted attention as the home of industry bright-lights including BioWare, Relic, DreamCatcher, Silicon Knightsand two Rockstar studios. Their maple syrup is second to none.