Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE) has released details on the Wii Shop digital download game sales. Both Virtual Console and WiiWare games accounted for $125 million in sales. Overall, WiiWare games have grown 30% since the WiiWare launch, accounting for over $60 million in sales in 2009. Virtual Console games dropped about 25%, which FADE attributes to the Nintendo game giveaway for those who purchased the Wii Web Browser. There’s also less Virtual Console game releases (as demonstrated by this week’s lack of Virtual Console games on the Nintendo Download).
Here are the top 10 downloadable Wii Shop games, by revenue in 2009, as noted by FADE:
Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo, NES) – $5,000,000 ($5.00)
World of Goo (2D Boy, WiiWare) – $4,800,000 ($15.00)
Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, NES) – $3,300,000 ($5.00)
Super Mario World (Nintendo, SNES) – $2,900,000 ($8.00)
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, N64) – $2,700,000 ($10.00)
Tetris Party (Hudson, WiiWare) – $2,600,000 ($12.00)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the (Nintendo, N64) – $2,300,000 ($10.00)
Pokémon Rumble (Nintendo, WiiWare) – $2,200,000 ($15.00)
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the (Nintendo, N64) – $2,100,000 ($10.00)
My Pokémon Ranch (Nintendo, WiiWare) – $2,000,000 ($10.00)
It’s no surprise that Nintendo’s classic games dominate the list, but it’s great to see games like World of Goo and Tetris Party representing other game developers and publishers. FADE is projecting more growth for third-party developed WIiWare games, saying
WiiWare will surpass $75 million in 2010, while Virtual Console is projected for a bit of decline to $60 million.
See the full details provided by FADE in the press release below.
Press release:
February 22, 2010 - Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment, LLC (FADE) has released its annual report for 2009 for Nintendo’s WiiWare and Virtual Console services. FADE estimates that the two platforms combined for $125 million in revenue in 2009, with the holiday rush just giving Virtual Console the edge over WiiWare ($66 million to $59 million).
While WiiWare grew by over 30% in 2009 compared to its launch year, Virtual Console slid almost 25% in 2009, leading to an small overall decline of 6% year-over-year. The main factors for the decline in Virtual Console revenue are an overall weaker and less numerous release schedule in 2009, combined with a promotion by Nintendo to give away a free NES game to Wii owners who had purchased the Wii Internet Channel – leading to over 500,000 free downloads.
As with most downloadable markets, the top titles take in most of the revenue. On WiiWare, the top 20 games (10% of the market) took in almost 70% of the revenue, while on Virtual Console the top 50 games (10%) took in almost 80% of the revenue. The top-heavy nature of the market has led to the majority of titles on both services seeing less than 10,000 sales lifetime.
One important detail to point out is that while the Nintendo dominates among the classic titles on the Virtual Console, taking in 76% of revenue on that platform, WiiWare is a different story altogether. That platform has proven much more hospitable to third parties, with Nintendo only earning 16% of WiiWare revenue. (See attached figure.)
FADE believes 2010 will continue to see small declines in Virtual Console with strong gains in WiiWare, as they project the Virtual Console to take in approximately $60 million with WiiWare surpassing $75 million.
Estimated Top Western Downloadable Wii Titles by Revenue, 2009 (Price in USD):
Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo, NES) – $5,000,000 ($5.00)
World of Goo (2D Boy, WiiWare) – $4,800,000 ($15.00)
Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, NES) – $3,300,000 ($5.00)
Super Mario World (Nintendo, SNES) – $2,900,000 ($8.00)
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, N64) – $2,700,000 ($10.00)
Tetris Party (Hudson, WiiWare) – $2,600,000 ($12.00)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the (Nintendo, N64) – $2,300,000 ($10.00)
Pokémon Rumble (Nintendo, WiiWare) – $2,200,000 ($15.00)
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the (Nintendo, N64) – $2,100,000 ($10.00)
My Pokémon Ranch (Nintendo, WiiWare) – $2,000,000 ($10.00)
For the purposes of this list, western markets include North and South America, Europe, and Australia (to the exclusion of Japan and Korea).
FADE offers a wide array of reports for WiiWare and Virtual Console for any given month, with package deals on multiple platforms and volume discounts for large orders. Visit http://www.fadellc.com for more information.
