A number of major factors:
Population growth - Back in the early '80s when the NES launched, the world population was 4.4 billion. Today, the world population is 7.6 billion, about 73% larger.
Multi-platform - In the past, most games were single-platform. Nowadays, most games are multi-platform, catering to a wider user base. It's a lot easier to sell millions across multiple platforms than it is on a single platform.
- Platform accounting - In the past, companies used to list sales figures separately for different releases/platforms, rather than combining all versions together like most companies do today, so the sales of older games are higher than the published figures. For example, all versions of Super Mario Bros 3 add up to over 60 million sales, all versions of Pokemon Red/Blue add up to nearly 60 million, all versions of Sonic 1 add up to over 40 million, etc.
Bigger industry - The video game industry has grown significantly, from about $20 billion ($50 billion with inflation) in the early '80s (arcade golden age) to over $100 billion today.
- Economic growth - Back when the NES launched in '83, world GDP was $11 trillion ($28 trillion with inflation). Today, world GDP is $108 trillion. World GDP growth has outstripped inflation by almost four times.
- Disposable income - Due to rapid world GDP growth, the world has significantly more disposable income today than in previous generations.
- More markets - In the past, the game industry catered to just three major markets: Japan, North America, and Western Europe. Combined, these regions account for 15% of the world population. Nowadays, more major markets have emerged, in Mainland Asia, Oceania, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. This is a result of economic growth, as many countries have emerged out of poverty and developed into major buying markets.
- More monetisation - Piracy was more rampant in the past, especially outside of the big three markets (Japan, North America, Western Europe). For example, there were unofficial "Famiclone" consoles sold across Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, with Nintendo not seeing a dime from them. Nowadays, due to economic development, rampant piracy has declined in these markets, with much more paying customers. PUBG's rapid record-breaking sales, for example, were mainly driven by China, which alone accounted for nearly 40% of the game's sales.
Revenue streams - In the past, AA/AAA games had multiple revenue streams: arcades, rentals, and sales. Nowadays, the revenue streams of AA/AAA games are limited to just sales, with arcades and rentals no longer relevant.
- Decline of arcades - In the past, the arcade market was huge, to the point where arcade classics like Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Street Fighter II remain the highest-grossing games to this day. Arcade machines were also technologically more advanced than home systems, in terms of graphics, sound and controls. Most people didn't see the point of buying full-priced games on home systems when they could play arcade games for a couple of coins, especially when arcade games had more advanced tech. The decline of arcades led to more people buying games.
- Decline of rentals - In the past, the rental market was huge. It was much more common for people to rent games, or VHS movies, than it was to buy them. Again, most people didn't see the point of buying full-priced games when you could rent them for a couple of quid/dollars. The decline of rentals also led to more people buying games (and DVD/BD movies).
- Cheaper retail prices - In the past, video games on home systems were much more expensive to buy. The SNES version of Street Fighter II, for example, launched for $70, equivalent to $130 with inflation. And it was even more expensive in Japan and Europe. Today's average AAA launch price of $60 is relatively cheap in comparison. This meant that older games grossed more revenue than modern games that sell twice as many units. But since older games were more expensive to buy, this meant less gamers purchased them and more people either rented them or played their arcade versions.
Digital distribution - The rise of digital distribution has made video games much more easier and cheaper to distribute, and more accessible for gamers. Physical distribution was costly, even for discs, let alone the much more expensive cartridges. And for gamers, you had to look for games in stores, and things like stock shortages or limited shelf space meant you couldn't always find the games you're looking for. Digital distribution has made it much easier to purchase games, with whatever games you're looking for just a click away.
Marketing - Marketing budgets today are much bigger than in the past. In the '80s and '90s, it was uncommon for a game to get more than $1 million marketing budget. Nowadays, it's not uncommon for AAA games to get $100 million marketing budgets.
- Social media - Video games can now be promoted much more easily through social media. In the past, games had to be promoted through game magazines and TV ads. Nowdays, you can promote games for free on social media platforms. If you can get your game trending on social media, then it could become a sure-fire hit. Video game marketing has become much easier and less costly.
Generation shift - Nowadays, there's a whole generation of people who grew up with video games. Back in '80s, most parents weren't familiar with video games. Nowadays, most parents are not only familiar with video games, but themselves grew up playing video games. On top of that, today's generation have more disposable income than previous generations. Most of the kids who grew up playing games in the '80s and '90s are now adults/parents with plenty of disposable income to buy more games with.
All of this adds up to the unit sales figures of games today being higher than in previous generations.
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