The videogame market is returning to what loyal customers expect; follow-ups to their favourite games. A long list is slated for 2010, and if Mass Effect 2′s two-million in a week performance is any indication; the situation may stay “recession proof.”

“What the industry has learned here is that you are going to make money off your best customers,” said analyst Doug Creutz.

The next few months are crucial, as publishers have staked claim on their core, most loyal customers to shell out lots of cash over the next few months with such follow-ups as: BioShock 2, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII and Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Publishers are going with “what works” on the back of a decline in casual games, surmised analyst Todd Greenwald.

NPD reports videogame hardware and software sales year-to-year down 8 percent and Holiday sales sliding 7 percent Stateside. This reverberated through the market, all four major stand-alone game publishers underperformed in the NASDAQ in 2009.

Via MarketWatch news