A turnaround could be on the horizon for the game’s industry, and it will likely be because of the arrival of GTA V, the PS4, and Xbox 720. Â Analysts have recently been weighing in on what to expect from the soon to be released games industry NPD data, and their outlook hasn’t been rosy. Â They’ve already made predictions of poor sales for major first-party franchises of Sony and Microsoft in March, though it’s not exactly breaking news that the industry has been in a bit of a funk in recent years.
Analysts have issued another negative outlook, this time from Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, who figures that sales will once again see a slide of between 10-15 percent.  Bahtia believes that the downward slide continues, that is until GTA V arrives in September and begins to turn things around.  The analyst thinks that the release of  GTA V in September will get the ball rolling in the right direction, and the release of next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft will continue this upward momentum for the industry.
While we won’t be able to see if Bahtia’s predictions are true for a few months here, the March NPD data will be released later today, where we’ll see if the games industry continues to slide once again. Â It’s worth noting that many companies are beginning to see a rise in digital sales though, so whatever these declines end up being, they’re likely not telling the whole story.
