Some analysts have predicted a drop of about 20 per cent in software revenues to approximately $560 million in comparison to the same period in 2011. Meanwhile the analysts are predicting that Console and hand-held game sales are likely to drop by only 22 per cent. They particularly indicate that the major releases of March 2011 which included Pokemon Black/White, Dragon Age II and Homefront are possible reasons for this year’s decline.

While one section of analysts believe that software sales are likely to improve come May thanks to releases like Max Payne 3 and Diablo III, others argue that the decline witnessed is likely to remain through the months of April and May. They say this is due to the persistence in Wii weakening and equally the tough comparisons to the 2011 releases of PlayStation and Xbox 360.

When compared to 2011, the sales for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were moderately down on annual analysis while revenues for Wii games went down by approximately 50 per cent. The analysts predict that there is a likelihood of a 24 per cent year-on-year decline for packaged console/handheld sales, as well as a 50 per cent dip in PC game sales.

Other experts as well as gamers are of the opinion that the numbers are down because of the absence of mainstream hits. It seems gamers are currently not buying games as they used to do in the recent past, the number of deeply enthusiastic gamers seems to be going down at the moment.

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