As console battle heats up, videogame revival hopes rise

“New heroes are here”, proclaims a poster for Microsoft’s and Sony’s new gaming consoles at the entrance of the Gamescom trade fair, reflecting hopes that a battle over the devices will boost the declining videogames industry.

For once, the rise of online and free-to-play gaming is not the only topic at Europe’s biggest videogames trade show, expected to attract just under 300,000 people to Cologne, Germany for a test-drive on the new consoles.

Instead, a classic clash of titans is shaping up, with the industry hoping the new consoles can boost the industry ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.

Industry tracker NPD says sales of videogame hardware and software have fallen every month, on a year-on-year basis, since January last year, losing ground to online and free-to-play Internet and smartphone and tablet games such as Supercell’s Clash of Clans and Rovio’s Angry Birds.

But as Microsoft and Sony prepare to go head-to-head with their Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the publishers of games played on those devices are hoping to cash in.

“The recent industry sales figures are more a reflection of typical late console cycle dynamics than the momentum of this medium,” said Activision Blizzard’s Publishing Chief Executive Eric Hirshberg.