NPD Estimates For First Quarter Of 2012

According to industry trackers, consumers spent $3.4 billion on new video game content earlier this year, with digital sales on the rise.

Despite the large sum of money estimated spent on video games, this is down from 2011's first quarter estimate of $5.9 billion.

While NPD says that the decline of sales of new, physical software is not surprising ($1.5 billion for Q1 2012), sales of used games and rentals dropped minimally (only by five percent).

Furthermore, digital sales grew by as much as 10 percent from the same time period in 2011.

"While the growth in digital format sales does not yet offset the declines in physical format sales," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier, "clearly the changes occurring within the industry are reflected in the trends we are seeing in the research."