In context: Despite declining pc gross sales in recent times, the PC and console gaming market stays a profitable one for builders and {hardware} suppliers. 2022 launches a number of blockbuster titles on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch, together with Total War: Warhammer 3, Elden Ring, Hitman 3, Ghostwire: Tokyo, God of War and Independent blockbuster “Wanderer”.
Market intelligence agency Newzoo’s 2023 PC and Console Gaming Report reveals a number of attention-grabbing details concerning the state of the worldwide PC and console gaming business. According to the report, gross gaming income will attain $92.3 billion in 2022, down 2.2 p.c from the earlier yr.
While console video games accounted for 56.2% of income, boxed and downloaded PC video games accounted for 41.3% of the market. The ultimate 2.5% goes to browser-based video games on the PC.
The United States is the world’s largest sport market in 2022, with income of $31.2 billion, accounting for 34% of world gross sales. The Asia-Pacific area got here in second with spending of $30.2 billion, accounting for 33 p.c of world income. Europe was the third largest market with $24.3 billion in gaming income, accounting for 26% of the worldwide market.
Overall, the US and China are the world’s two largest gaming markets, accounting for almost half (48%) of complete world PC and console income.
One of probably the most noteworthy bits of knowledge within the report is that between 2021 and 2022, the typical playtime throughout Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation will drop by 23%. However, the drop was extra of a “corrective measure” as individuals started to transition to regular life after the pandemic, the report mentioned.
One of the primary causes for final yr’s decrease income was the delay of a number of main releases resulting from obstacles attributable to the pandemic. However, the business is predicted to get a significant enhance this yr with the discharge of a number of high-priced video games corresponding to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The report additionally famous that an increasing number of AAA and AA publishers are transferring to subscription fashions, as firms select to launch fewer video games and as an alternative give attention to extending the lifespan of present franchises corresponding to Fortnite, Minecraft, and ROBLOX.
The ultimate takeaway from the report considerations rising gender equality in gaming. While PC and console gaming has all the time been male-dominated, issues are wanting up as extra ladies begin enjoying video games severely. According to the report, 40 p.c of all avid gamers have been ladies final yr, making the market fairer than ever.
