M-rated games pull in the big bucks for industry
Category: Industry, Posted: 03/11/2008 at 06:01PM CDT by Frank Ling, Editorial Director
M-rated games have actually seen a decline in production since 2007. But the odd thing about this is that regardless of the reduction in the number of M-rated titles being made, these types of games have turned out to be the big money makers of ESRB rated titles.
So what happened to the casual gamer? This demographic has been held in awe recently as Nintendo has proven that the hard-core gamer isn't necessarily where all the profits are. But according to NPD Group, the figures show that not only are M-rated games one of the most popular classifications, they also bring in a good deal of money for game publishers.
Why is this? It just could be a matter of demographics. Consumers who buy a lot of video games fall into the category of the ages between 18-34--a demographic that has a good deal of discretionary income to spend. Added to this are the blockbuster titles that have come out such as BioShock, Assassin's Creed, and Halo 3--all M-rated games and all prime candidates for purchase by aforementioned demographic.
But regardless of whether games are rated M, T, E or Z, as long as the titles are great, it doesn't really matter what category they are in, does it?
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They are getting a lot more popular. For some strange reason my neighborhood library is now renting out M only rated games for the 360, ps3 and wii for some strange reason. Oh well, Im not complaining.
I stopped paying attention to the letter on the box as soon as I was an age where it was irrelevant. I've never let an "E" on the box scare me away from playing it.
As for why "M" games are so popular, who knows? Because everyone loves blood? And guns? And both marry so well with gaming? *shrug*
It's good to see that T-rated games aren't as ridiculously far behind as E10s.
As for Es, I'd love to see how they do once you take out sports games, which would sell in the millions regardless of rating. That's always an enormous boost to the everyone market.
You nailed it. As I've always said, it is a matter of disposable income. While junior may get a game for holidays or his/her birthday, us 18-34 crowd get a game when we are interested. And for the most part, games like cooking mama, viva pinata, or the like just don't do it for us. And if you input Yuko's sports game figures (proving not all games coveted by our age bracket need blood) the gap widens.