Analysts: US game sales slump to continue until second half of '09
The go-to game industry analysts see the downward sales in March as a trend that could continue over the next several months. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter notes that hardware sales were down 19 percent year-over-year and he doesn't see a reversal of software sales in the "near term." Lazard Capital's Colin Sebastian is concerned that the industry continues to see sales "concentrated among a small group of top-tier software publishers and first-party platform holders." He believes this leaves little room for ... well, anyone else in the near future.
Both gurus see the second half of the year working out better for the industry. Edge notes that US industry sales have hit $4.25 billion during the first quarter, the same place they were during 2008's record-breaking year.
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