M-rated games have actually seen a decline in production since 2007. But the odd thing about this is that regardless of the reduction in the number of M-rated titles being made, these types of games have turned out to be the big money makers of ESRB rated titles.
So what happened to the casual gamer? This demographic has been held in awe recently as Nintendo has proven that the hard-core gamer isn’t necessarily where all the profits are. But according to NPD Group, the figures show that not only are M-rated games one of the most popular classifications, they also bring in a good deal of money for game publishers.
Why is this? It just could be a matter of demographics. Consumers who buy a lot of video games fall into the category of the ages between 18-34–a demographic that has a good deal of discretionary income to spend. Added to this are the blockbuster titles that have come out such as BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, and Halo 3–all M-rated games and all prime candidates for purchase by aforementioned demographic.
But regardless of whether games are rated M, T, E or Z, as long as the titles are great, it doesn’t really matter what category they are in, does it?
[via next-gen]
