In Q1, 2012, the amount spent on digital game content – including mobile games, as well as social network games, in-game purchases and PC downloads – reached a total $1.38bn (£0.9bn) in the US, according to a report from market research company NPD Group. That represents a growth of 10 per cent compared to Q1, 2011.

That amount comes close to matching that generated by sales of physical copies, which stand at $1.5bn in the US, and eclipses the $525m generated by the pre-owned and rental games market.

In the UK, France and Germany, meanwhile, the total sales for digital game sales in Q1, 2012, reached $959m. Not too bad, but according to NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier, mobile still has room to grow in Europe.

“Relative to the spend in the US, we find that the consumer spend on mobile games is still developing in the three European countries we are covering,” says Frazier, “while the spend on full game and add-on content digital downloads and subscriptions is more highly developed.”