NPD Group to Buy Video Games Researcher EEDAR

In the US, retail information firm the NPD Group has agreed to acquire video games industry researcher EEDAR for an undisclosed sum.

EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research) operates a proprietary database of video game product data spanning more than 200 million facts and 150,000 titles across console, PC, mobile and online / social media titles. The firm's GamePulse analytics platform allows clients to integrate published or actual sales data from any region in the world alongside marketing, review score, consumer awareness, demographic and game feature data for historical and upcoming video games.

NPD began tracking video games in 1998, and in July it unveiled the Digital Games Tracking Service, to provide the US gaming industry with publisher-sourced SKU-level data on game sales, aggregated from the participants of a digital panel. The two companies have a history of collaboration, most recently on NPD's new service, which is included in GamePulse.

As part of the deal, the firms' current product offerings are expected to remain intact, with collaboration on new products to continue, and EEDAR will remain based in Carlsbad, CA. Closing is anticipated in early October, after which EEDAR will operate as 'EEDAR, an NPD Group Company'. Robert Liguori (pictured), EEDAR CEO, comments: 'A fundamental goal of EEDAR has always been to improve the quality and speed by which business decisions could be made for game developers and publishers. NPD shares this philosophy, and the joining of our resources and passion for this sector will ensure the industry has access to the information it needs as it advances into new platforms and business models'.

Web site: www.npd.com and www.eedar.com .