endimion said:
Lol yeah you have Russia... with what 118 million.... with a 90% rate of piracy, the best selling console will be the easiest to hack over there... i'd take UK France Germany over those country any day in terms of potential revenue.... So you're statement is wrong even with more inhabitants.... the countries they released in so far are way more important than Russia and other smaller countries in that list with maybe a couple exception.... this is not to say those country are shit, just that from pure business prospective they are not as important and by far for some (Scandinavia)... On an other note, not sure where the deal in china is going... but even that to me seems way more relevant and profitable for MS than those 160 million split up over many countries with a smaller ratio of console gamers for a good half... |
Indeed Russia has a lot of piracy but:
Russia’s active gamer population rivals that of Germany’s – the European country with the highest number of gamers. Russia had an active gamer population of 38 million in 2011, topping Germany’s 36 million, and making Russia the world’s 2nd largest country in terms of game population (behind the US). In addition, 53% of Russia’s gamers spend money on games, resulting in a $1.5 million industry and Russia's most popular form of visual entertainment (ahead of movies). These statistics are only expected to rise in future years, with PricewaterhouseCoopers predicting Russia's game sales to hit $1.7 billion in 2015, becoming the 4th largest market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, rising to $35.7 billion.
And the nordic gaming market is huge!
Bringing us to the big question – which countries drive the Western European game market? The Ipsos Media CT and Interactive Software Federation of Europe compiled their research to reveal telling statistics about the region. According to their market research, Germany leads the European market with $461 million in sales, the UK ranking 2nd at $382 million, France 3rd at $336 million, and Spain 4th at $140 million. However, the Nordic region dominates the region, comprising over $600 million in sales as a collective area.
http://www.lai.com/en/game-industry-statistics