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in: Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters, Video games by year

1975

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In 1975, the video game industry was in decline following the 1974 crash and but began recovering with the release of new arcade titles such as Western Gun (Gun Fight)[1] as well as Pong clone consoles.

In the United States, the best-selling and highest-grossing video game was Atari's Home Pong console. The year's best-selling and highest-grossing arcade game was Taito's Speed Race, released as Wheels and Racer in North America.

Financial performance[]

The following table lists the annual sales and revenue generated by the electronic games industry this year, including video games and electro‑mechanical games. See sections below for breakdown of revenue estimates.

Industry Products Market Unit sales Annual revenue (est.) Ref
Nominal Inflation
Electronic games Japan 11,000+ $481,000,000 $2,700,000,000
United States 879,000 $287,000,000 $1,600,000,000
Arcade Arcade games Worldwide 79,000+ $1,387,000,000 $7,900,000,000
Arcade Arcade games United Kingdom — $660,000,000 $3,700,000,000 [2]
Japan — $480,000,000 $2,700,000,000 [3]
United States 79,000+ $247,000,000 $1,400,000,000 [4][5]
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games Worldwide $795,000,000 $4,500,000,000
Arcade Electro‑mechanical games United Kingdom — $400,000,000+ $2,300,000,000 [2]
Japan — $300,000,000+ $1,700,000,000+ [3][6]
United States — $95,000,000 $270,000,000
Video games Worldwide 895,000 $193,130,000 $1,100,000,000
Arcade Arcade video games United States 79,000 $152,000,000 $860,000,000 [5]
Console Video game consoles United States 800,000 $40,000,000 $230,000,000 [7][5]
Japan 11,000 $1,000,000 $6,000,000 [8]
Canada 5,000 $130,000 $1,000,000 [9]
Worldwide 816,000 $41,130,000 $230,000,000
Video games United States 879,000 $192,000,000 $1,100,000,000 [5]
Electronic games Worldwide 895,000+ $1,428,130,000 $8,100,000,000

Highest-grossing games in the United States[]

The following titles were the highest-grossing electronic games in the United States during 1976, including both video games (VG) and electro-mechanical games (EM games) across arcades and homes. See sections below for breakdown of revenue estimates.

Rank Title Company Gross revenue (est.) Genre Type Platform
Nominal Inflation
1 Home Pong Atari / Sears $40,000,000 $230,000,000 Pong VG Console
2 Speed Race Taito $34,000,000 $190,000,000 Racing VG Arcade
3 Tank / Tank II Kee Games $30,000,000 $170,000,000 Maze
4 Gun Fight Taito $20,000,000 $110,000,000 Shooter
5 Odyssey 100 Magnavox $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Pong VG Console
Super Shifter Allied $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Racing EM Arcade
7 Indy 800 Atari $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Racing VG Arcade
8 Air Hockey Brunswick $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Sports EM
9 Wizard Bally $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Pinball
10 Gran Trak 10 / 20 Atari $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Racing VG
11 Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox $6,300,000 $36,000,000 Pong VG Console
12 Odyssey 200 Magnavox $6,000,000 $34,000,000
13 Skee Ball PTC $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Sports EM Arcade
14 F-114 (Sky Fighter) Taito $5,000,000 $28,000,000 FPS
15 Twin Racer Kee Games $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing VG
16 BiPlane Fun Games $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Shooter
17 Demolition Derby Chicago Coin $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Driving
18 OXO Williams $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Pinball EM
19 Rifle Range Midway $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Gun
20 Street Burners Allied $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing VG

Arcade games in the United States[]

The "paddle game" trend came to an end in arcades around 1975, with the arcade video game industry entering a period of stagnation in the "post paddle game era" over the next several years up until 1977.[10]

Best-selling arcade video games[]

The following titles were the best-selling arcade video games of 1975 in the United States.

Rank Title Developer Cabinet sales[11] Genre Generation
Annual Cume
1 Wheels (Speed Race) Taito 10,000 10,000 Racing Discrete
2 Gun Fight (Western Gun) Taito 8,000[12] 8,000 Shooter 8-bit
3 Tank Kee Games 5,000 15,000 Maze Discrete
4 Flim-Flam Meadows Games 4,000 6,000 Pong
Gran Trak 20 Atari 4,000 4,500 Racing
6 Video Action / Robot Valley URL / Venture 3,000 3,000[13] Pong
7 PT-109 Mirco Games 1,500 1,500 Shooter
8 Avenger Electra Games 1,000 1,000
Tank II Kee Games 1,000 1,000 Maze
10 Crash 'N Score Atari 500 500 Driving Discrete
Jet Fighter Atari 500 500 Shooter
Shark Jaws Atari 500 500 Action
Steeplechase Atari 500 500 Racing
14 Demolition Derby Chicago Coin / Exidy 400 400 Driving Discrete
Heavy Traffic Digital Games 300 300 Racing
16 Inca TV Cocktail Table PMC Electronics 250 250 Pong
Knock Out Digital Games 250 250
Combo Digital Games 250 250
19 Indy 800 Atari 200 200 Racing
Shark US Billiards 200 200 Maze
TV Cocktail Table US Billiards 200 200 Pong
Maneater Project Support 200 200 Action

Highest-grossing arcade games[]

In the United States, RePlay magazine published the first annual chart of top-grossing arcade games in March 1976, listing both video games (VG) and electro-mechanical games (EM games) on the same chart for the previous year. The following were the highest-grossing arcade games of the previous year, in terms of arcade earnings.

Rank Title[14] Company Release Gross revenue (est.) Genre Type
Nominal[11][15] Inflation Ref
1 Tank / Tank II Kee Games 1974-11[16] $30,000,000 $170,000,000 [16] Maze VG
2 Wheels (Speed Race) Taito 1975-03[17] $29,000,000 $150,000,000 [18] Racing
3 Gun Fight Taito 1975-10[19] $20,000,000 $110,000,000 [12][20] Shooter VG
4 Super Shifter Allied 1974[21] $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Racing EM
5 Indy 800 Atari 1975-04[16] $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Racing VG
6 Air Hockey Brunswick 1972 $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Sports EM
7 Wizard Bally 1975-05[22] $10,000,000 $57,000,000 Pinball
8 Gran Trak 10 / 20 Atari 1974[16] $10,000,000 $57,000,000 [23] Racing VG
9 Skee Ball PTC 1947[24] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Sports EM
10 F-114 (Sky Fighter) Taito 1975-06[25] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 FPS
11 Twin Racer Kee Games 1974-07[16] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing VG
12 BiPlane Fun Games 1975-12 $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Shooter
13 Racer (Speed Race) Taito 1975-02[17] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing
14 Demolition Derby Chicago Coin 1975-12[26] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Driving
15 OXO Williams 1973-08[27] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Pinball EM
16 Rifle Range Midway 1963[28] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Gun
17 Street Burners Allied 1975-05[29] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing VG
18 Crown Basketball Taito 1968-03[30] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Sports EM
19 Amigo Bally 1974-05[31] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Pinball
20 Grand Prix Sega 1969-08[32] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing
21 Gun Fight Sega 1969[33] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Shooter EM
Helicopter Sega 1968-07[34] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Simulation
Moto Champ Sega 1973[35] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Racing
Periscope Namco / Sega 1968-03[36] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 [37] FPS
Winner Midway 1973-04[38] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 Pong VG
26 Flim-Flam Meadows 1974-03[39] $5,000,000 $28,000,000 [40] Pong VG
27 Space Race Atari 1973-07[41] $3,000,000 $21,000,000 Racing
28 Avenger Electra Games 1975-11[42] $2,000,000 $11,000,000 [43] Shooter
29 Road Runner Bally 1971-08[44] $1,000,000 $6,000,000 Racing EM
Destruction Derby Exidy 1975-11[45] $1,000,000 $6,000,000 [46] Racing VG

Best-selling home systems[]

Rank Console Company Unit sales Gross revenue (est.) Type Generation Ref
Nominal Inflation
1 Home Pong Atari / Sears 200,000 $40,000,000 $230,000,000 Console First [11][15]
2 Odyssey 100 / 200 Magnavox 133,000 $13,000,000 $74,000,000 Console First [47]
3 Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox 80,000 $6,400,000 $36,000,000 [48][49]
4 Electrotennis Epoch 10,000 $700,000 $4,000,000 [47]
5 Altair 8800 MITS 5,000 $2,000,000 $11,000,000 Computer 8-bit [50]
6 Tennis Game Machine Packel[n 1] 1,000 $440,000 $2,500,000 Console First [47]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ パッケル測器 Pakkeru Sokki

References[]

  1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/Winners_Book_of_Video_Games/page/n265/mode/2up
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amusement Trade Fair - Colour. British Movietone (February 8, 1976).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 情報メディア白書 [Information Media White Paper]. Dentsu Institute. 2010. p. 293. https://books.google.com/books?id=fSFNAQAAIAAJ. "産業興行収入市場規模営業収入営業収入全体ビデオゲームアーケードゲーム中短波 FM (Box office revenue, Market size, Operating revenue, Total operating revenue, Video games, Arcade games, Medium and shortwave FM) ... 1965 755 152 713 1,090 4,843 1966 758 174 752 1,266 5,760 1967 789 214 788 1,530 6,793 1968 820 254 792 1,736 7,843 1969 838 323 0 848 2,206 9,305 1970 825 398 13 921 2,691 10,802 1971 793 430 17 1,010 2,893 12,649 1972 770 482 1,100 3,333 14,828 1973 927 580 235 24 1,187 4,018 17,344 1974 1,171 628 46 1,258 4,442 19,171 1975 1,308 683 52 1,314 4,856 21,555 1976 1,457 790 65 1,915 5,809 25,714 1977 1,524 892 83 2,091 6,512 34,784 1978 1,605 1,006 97 2,141 7,362 37,058 1979 1,582 1,164 115 2,191 8,326 39,255 1980 1,659 1,263 131 2,714 8,687 41,008 1981 1,633 1,347 143 2,816 9,284 42,625 1982 1,695 2,780 4,500 1,391 180 2,877 9,967 44,611 1983 1,863 3,860 4,570 1,450 237 2,926 10,713 46,915"
  4. ↑ Annual Survey of Manufactures: 1975-1976. U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. May 1979. p. 2-30. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l1DUjcEedFkC&pg=SA2-PA30.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Video Game Sales: 1972-1999. Gaming Alexandria (June 7, 2021).
  6. ↑ https://shmuplations.com/kasco/
  7. ↑ 昔(1970年代）のテレビゲームは何台売れた？ (How many old (1970s) video games sold?) (Japanese). Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (CVS Odyssey) (2014-01-09). Archived from the original on 2023-11-02.
  8. ↑ See Epoch Electrotennis and Tennis Game Machine in Best-selling home systems section below
  9. ↑ "Home video games still hot selling item". The Leader-Post: p. 25. 10 January 1977. https://books.google.com/books?id=nkpVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA25&article_id=2981,1792627.
  10. ↑ "Special Report: Tom Petit (Sega Enterprises)". RePlay 16 (4): 80, 82. January 1991. https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-16-issue-no.-4-january-1991-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2016%2C%20Issue%20No.%204%20-%20January%201991/page/44.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1. https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Wills, John (2019). Gamer Nation. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-2869-7. https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/11237/gamer-nation.
  13. ↑ https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/11/urls-video-action-first-us-consumer.html
  14. ↑ "The Nation's Top Arcade Games". RePlay. March 1976. https://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/03/more-bronze-age-video-game-popularity.html.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Video Game Industry Year by Year: 1973-1975
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Production Numbers. Atari Games (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Akagi, Masumi (1971-2005). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition). Japan: Amusement News Agency (published 13 October 2006). p. 124. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n125.
  18. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1976/Cash-Box-1976-11-13.pdf#page=85
  19. ↑ "Over 4100 Attend MOA Expo ’75; Record 226 Booths, 94 Exhibitors". Cash Box: 45-8. November 1, 1975. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-11-01.pdf#page=45.
  20. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-04-02.pdf#page=55
  21. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=super-shifter&page=detail&id=14502
  22. ↑ https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/wizard
  23. ↑ Production Numbers. Atari (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  24. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=skee-ball&page=detail&id=33903
  25. ↑ https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-1-number-7-june-july-1975-600dpi/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%201%2C%20Number%207%20-%20June-July%201975%20%28Compressed%29/page/21
  26. ↑ "California Clippings". Cash Box: 36. December 20, 1975. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-12-20.pdf#page=36.
  27. ↑ https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1733
  28. ↑ https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=17501
  29. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (1971-2005). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition). Japan: Amusement News Agency (published 13 October 2006). p. 109. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n110.
  30. ↑ "Munves' Southern Tour Reveals High Earnings For Several Games At Tampa Fair". Cash Box (Cash Box Pub. Co.): 61. 9 March 1968. https://archive.org/details/cashbox29unse_31/page/61.
  31. ↑ https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=71
  32. ↑ https://segaretro.org/Grand_Prix
  33. ↑ https://segaretro.org/Gun_Fight
  34. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-01-05.pdf#page=30
  35. ↑ https://segaretro.org/Moto_Champ
  36. ↑ https://segaretro.org/Periscope
  37. ↑ https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/historical-interlude-the-history-of-coin-op-part-6-a-technological-revolution/
  38. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=winner&page=detail&id=4750
  39. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1974/CB-1974-03-09.pdf#page=56
  40. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-04-05.pdf#page=30
  41. ↑ Production Numbers. Atari Games (1999). Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved on 19 March 2012.
  42. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (1971-2005). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition). Japan: Amusement News Agency (published 13 October 2006). pp. 116-7. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n117/mode/2up.
  43. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1978/CB-1978-07-22.pdf#page=51
  44. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=road-runner-model-914&page=detail&id=12655
  45. ↑ https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=destruction-derby&page=detail&id=3384
  46. ↑ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1976/Cash-Box-1976-11-06.pdf#page=53
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 First generation of video games
  48. ↑ Smith, Alexander (November 27, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry. 1: 1971 – 1982. CRC Press. pp. 207–9. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT204.
  49. ↑ How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
  50. ↑ Reimer, Jeremy (2005-12-15). Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures (en-us). Ars Technica.

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