games

XBLA growing steadily

Gaming on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) grew by double-digit numbers during the first half of the year, after a sluggish start in January and February which saw numbers down year over year.

Overall, the XBLA market place grew 13 percent to R322-million by the end of June. June 2010 capped off the first half with an impressive 36 percent increase compared to last year's June 2009.

Analyst firm Forecasting & Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE) reports that the major turning point in 2010 for XBLA came during the heavily promoted 'Block Party' event, which started in March and featured four titles: 'Toy Soldiers', 'Perfect Dark', 'Scrap Metal', and 'Game Room'.

'Toy Soldiers' and 'Perfect Dark' both took in over R14-million during the first half, placing each among the top five by revenue. The free-to-download classic title destination 'Game Room' also saw success, with over a million downloads shortly after release.

March started the positive trend, posting a strong 41 percent year-over-year increase in revenues, which began a consecutive four-month run of double digit gains in revenue when compared to 2009.

Starting in April, Microsoft began to aggressively promote price drops on dozens of titles, starting with the 'Inventory Blowout' sale which ran for one week in April, and included 10 titles.

Throughout the second quarter, multiple sales were offered on titles, totaling over 40 titles offered on discount.