Each year, the Electronic Software Association publishes a report detailing the “Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. The 2006 report is available here (pdf), and other facts are available on the website. Older reports are a little harder to find, as they are not linked from the ESA website. However, after a little advanced Googling, I was able to pull up the reports for the previous three years. Here they are:
- 2005 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry (pdf)
- 2004 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry (pdf)
- 2003 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry (pdf)
The reports contain sales, demographic data, and usage data for the industry. The demographic data is very interesting, and the twenty top-selling games lists are very useful as well.