The 'Red Dead Redemption' video game for Microsoft Corp.'s XBOX 360 console sits on display at the BMO Capital Markets Annual Digital Entertainment Conference in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010. (Photo : Getty Images/ JB Reed)
In a new analysis of top spending gaming brands of December 2016, Xbox has beaten PlayStation with a total spend of $31.4 million. This amounts to 36.5 percent of the overall industry spend and a total of 1.2 billion TV ad impressions arising from 14 spots which ran for 3,807 times.
Xbox surpassed PlayStation, which was the previous leader, by airing most of its ads during NBA basketball and NFL Football as well as on such networks as Fox, NFL, and ESPN. Among all of its ads, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray was the most expensive ad spend, with an estimated payout of $7.1 million, according to iSpot.
PlayStation took the second position with $18.7 million, which is roughly 21.8 percent of what the whole industry spent. The brand ran 9 spots for 2,720 times, resulting in 998.8 million TV ad impressions.
Most of PlayStation's budget (roughly $12 million) was directed to "The King," a commercial that featured exclusive appearances by video game characters. From a network point of view, the brand spent much of its advertising cash on Fox, ESPN, and Cartoon Network. It also featured ads on airings of NBA basketball, NFL football, and "The Walking Dead" just like Xbox.
In the third Position, Machine Zone accumulated a total ad spend of $6.2 million. The corporation aired three spots for 3,821 times to create a total of 379.9 million TV ad impressions. A better part of its budget was directed to "Mobile Strike: Heavy Artillery," which features Arnold Schwarzenegger and sport-themed programming on NFL, Fox News, and ESPN.
In the same period, top 34 gaming brands spent a cumulative $85.8 million, which is a decrease from November's figure of $101.8 million. According to Win Buzzer, the brands ran 106 spots for 23,591 times on TV, generating a total of nearly 5 billion impressions.
Xbox and PlayStation took the lion's share with budgets of three-to-seven times bigger than the other brands. Check out the video below to know who won the Black Friday in December 2016:
