Band 7.5 Discussion Essays

The bar chart depicts the global sales figures of various ranges of digital games, namely mobile phone games, online games, console games, and handheld games from 2000 to 2006. Overall, the turnover for almost all types of digital games increased over the period, except for console games. Handheld games remained the most profitable gaming platform throughout the timeframe, resulting in a widening gap between them and console games. One striking feature is the rapid expansion of online games, which emerged in 2001, ranked second in the market by the end of the period. Regarding mobile phone games and console games, console games generated roughly $6 billion in revenue in 2001 and remained the second most profitable gaming category throughout the period, despite experiencing a steady decline each year. By contrast, mobile phone games entered the market in 2002 and grew rapidly to approximately $7 billion in sales by 2006, eventually surpassing console games. As for handheld and online games, handheld games remained the most lucrative category over the timeframe, with revenue rising steadily from approximately $12 billion in 2000 to nearly $18 billion in 2006. Meanwhile, online games first appeared in 2001 at roughly $1 billion and then surged sharply to nearly $9 billion in 2006, overtaking console games from 2005 onwards.