Total U.S. Game Spending to Top $24 Billion for 2010

Total U.S. consumer videogame spending is expected to reach nearly $25 billion for 2010, according to a report by market research company Newzoo (via Gamasutra).

This year's $24.7 billion estimate takes into account sales across all platforms, including microtransactions from DLC, MMOs, and social networks. For whatever reason, the only major segment of the market that's being ignored here is hardware sales.

Newzoo's report indicates that overall spending dropped 2 percent compared to last year's numbers. At least part of that decline would appear to be due to weaker sales of console games, which slowed to $10.6 billion in 2010. That's about 29 percent less than 2009's total.

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