While console sales will get a boost from new versions, that’s not the biggest chunk of the industry, nor the fastest-growing. With the rise of digital-copy game sales, mobile games, in-app purchase freemium games, cross-platform games that aren’t limited to a specific console, streaming game services like Microsoft’s Game Pass, games-as-a-subscription models, and online distribution services like Steam, along with varying levels of transparency, anyone wanting to make apples-to-apples comparisons encounters an unwieldy fruit basket. Gone are the days when all one had to track were console sales and games sold for their respective consoles and PCs. The videogame industry has boomed in recent years because of the variety of ways to play games.
