According to a report published by the market research company The NPD Group, gamers in the United States spent $15.39 billion on game content in 2013, up 1% from the previous year.
The report breaks down the spending starting with "$6.34 billion spent in the U.S. by consumers on new physical video and PC game software," with used and rental spending reaching $1.83 billion, and "content in digital format (full game and add-on content downloads, subscriptions, mobile games and social network games)," generating $7.22 billion.
"Particularly strong growth for full-game downloads and downloadable content on consoles, PCs and portable devices, along with growth in mobile games, were more than enough to offset an 11 percent decline in new physical sales, leading to a 1 percent annual growth for total content spending," the report stated.
Strong fourth quarter hardware sales were cited by the report as leading "to a positive year for the category, which ended the year 5 percent higher than 2012." The hardware and content growth over 2013 coupled together to "a 2 percent increase in overall consumer spending over 2012."
Liam Callahan, an industry analyst working for The NPD Group, is quoted in the report as saying "The bottom line is that the overall games market is growing. NPD reported declines in content and hardware spending in both 2011 and 2012, so the growth in 2013 is a positive indicator for future market growth as we enter the first full year with all three new consoles on the market."