Section 1: Market leaders and Pioneers
Current Brand Leaders
Sony
Sony Interactive, founded in 1946, Japan, currently helmed by CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, are an organisation known for their electronics, entertainment and gaming systems (Sony, 2023).
In the video game industry, Sony are known for their renowned series of static gaming Playstation series consoles, first released with the Playstation 1 (£299 RRP) in 1994 (See 1995 Advert Below). This console was groundbreaking for Sony, according to an article by Anderson, 1997 "Sony PlayStation: The People's Choice". The Playstation 2 years after release, had sold 2.2 million units worldwide.
As of August 2023, a reported increas at 18% of UK consumers owned a Playstation 5 amongst their household (See and Compare 2021 Advert below), concluding with a total of 31% owning a current generation, or previous generation Playstation console.
As reported by Statista, Sony has a global revenue of 82 billion Dollars, with a third of this being made up of sales from the video game market. This includes the selling of consoles, digital game sales and subscription services.
Active Video Game Userbase: 123 million active users
Microsoft
Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, are an organisation known for their Software products, hardware and subscription services (Microsoft, 2023).
In the video game industry Microsoft are best known for their series of Xbox consoles, live service and Xbox Gamepass subscription service. Microsoft cemented its place in the hall of video game fame with their Xbox console lineup, first released in 2001. This console immediately drew some controversy with their first ad "Life Is Short" being pulled from television by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) due to complaints, concluding that the media was too shocking for television at the time (see first ad below).
Following this, Microsoft released their most prestigious console the Xbox 360. This console sold 86 million units, 60 million more than the original xbox. Their ads for this also drummed up some controversy, and in some locations such as Argentina, the ad was pulled (See Ad Below).
It has been reported by Reuters and video game news outlets such as IGN and Gamespot that Sonys Playstation 5, has outsold the latest xbox console. However Microsoft also run a subscription service called Xbox Game Pass, from which users have access to a library of hundreds of games for a monthly subscription. This service has earned Microsoft around 34 million subscribers, returning an estimated 2.7 billion dollars per year.
According to the Microsoft 2023 Annual Report, the organisation generated 211 billion dollars in revenue and 88 billion in operating income
Active Video Game Userbase: 120 Million
Nintendo
Nintendo, founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, initially selling handmade hanafuda playing cards (See Image below), are now known for their handhelds, video game consoles and popular video game series such as Mario and Pokemon (Nintendo, 2023).
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| Handmade Hanafuda Playing Cards |
Nintendo is now helmed by their president Shuntaro Furukawa, and known for their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Gameboy, Wii and Switch (See original 1985 NES ad below).
The NES system sold worldwide in 1985 had sold 49 million to date. Their most popular consoles consisted of their Nintendo Switch and Nintendo DS. Nintendo are currently the worlds largest leading hybrid gaming developer.
Nintendo sold 139.3 million units of their latest console (See ad below to compare with 1985 commercial)
Nintendo are known for their family friendly content and popular franchise Super Mario. Which has reportedly accumulated 55 billion dollars of revenue over their video games and merchandise. However their most successful franchise is Pokemon (See table below), from which they have accumulated a massive fanbase, that has outstretched the video game realm.
From TV shows, books, merchanise, trading cards, video games and more Pokemon has been a worldwide phenomenon since its exportation to the global markets in 1988. (See 25 year anniversary below)
Active Video Game Userbase: 116 Million
Reference list
Nintendo, 2023, NintendoAboutUs. Available at: https://www.nintendo.com/us/about/ (Accessed: 22/04/24)
Xbox, 2023, XboxAbout. Available at: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-studios (Accessed: 21/04/24)
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