Nintendo larger than all major publishers combined
- — 29 July, 2008 18:14
According to Edge, Nintendo profited US$2.6 billion over the last year through April 2008, more than all other publicly traded top 20 publishers combined (including hardware sales). Disney, Konami, Activision, and Vivendi rounded out the top five.
By comparison, Electronic Arts lost $454 million during the same period, followed by Microsoft with a net loss of $574 million, and Sony at negative $1.3 billion on the year.
Historically, hardware makers like Sony and Microsoft operate at a loss during the first two years of a console's life, before raking in enormous profits on software sales in the years to follow.
Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in November 2005. Sony and Nintendo launched the PS3 and Wii respectively a year later in November 2006.
Electronic Arts, still the world's largest game-only publisher in terms of revenues, blamed its ugly-looking numbers on underestimating the Wii in favor of both Xbox 360 and PS3.
Though traditional games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 remain widely popularly and immensely profitable, the report underscores the waning importance of bleeding-edge graphics and Hollywood-like budgets when it comes to selling video games to your mom, dad, and grandma, in addition to your brothers and sisters.
