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At March 30th, a French courthouse declares Game-Services’ bankruptcy. Game-Services is the organiser of world-renowned Electronic Sports World Cup. Earlier I wrote about the demise of both CPL en CGS, and it seems the worst is not behind us.

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This is quite ironic. One of the biggest gaming markets and the biggest game of them all, should be a healthy combination, or would it? Because of China’s strict rules in terms of content, the latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, has not yet been approved for release, causing Chinese players to activate Taiwanese accounts and start playing there. China’s owner of the WoW license is now facing bankruptcy due to high costs already present. (servers and license fees)

Lets see if the Chinese government will help out and get the game cleared in time.

http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/14/chinese-wow-provider-the9-faces-bankruptcy/

This staggering number is based in the following article on Gamindustry.biz:

Games growth over 20 per cent at HMV

Based on sales numbers from 2008, HMV concludes that its current activities, selling new and also used games at their stores is paying off. It is outgrowing both CD, DVD and other media sales by far and while these deserve big discounts in sales prices and proposed media attentoin, gaming is one of the strongest markets in the industry.

Further adding to the significancy of these numbers is the extremely strong 2007 Q4 that the numbers are being compared to. Even hardware  sales are up to par, with particularly Nintendo’s Wii and DS performing great.

Earlier I commented on the stability of the gaming market in terms of spending, and these latest figures comfirm that even for the UK market.

It remains to be seen if the more traditional market; Europe, will perform like the US, UK and China are doing and keep up strong growth figures, in a time where the economic situation cautions customers on their expenses. 

It remains to be concluded that the gaming market is the one market that keeps steady spending, allowing for in-house activities that are relatively cheap. The price of a game is roughly compareable to a night in a bar!

Anyone can offer some insight on the old world’s market performance?