Industry analyst Newzoo reports that PC gaming is now projected to generate $31.9 billion in game software sales annually, or 32% of annual global games market revenue with +2.1% YoY growth. Its closest and longest competitor, console gaming, is projected to generate $29.0 billion in 2016 (29%) with a +4.5% YoY growth. Despite this growth pattern, both device categories are expected to stagnate in marketshare through 2019, their segments beset upon by mobile devices.
The report offers broken-down measurements of “casual web games” and “PC/MMO” (our more traditional version of PC gaming), and also splits portables into “personal screen” (phones) and “floating screen” (tablets + handhelds). Standalone, phone gaming revenue is reaching a staggering $27.1 billion – against the medium's age, an impressive number – with a 23.7% YoY growth. Handheld games comprise $1.8 billion (-24.1% YoY decline) of the Floating Screen category, with tablets accounting for the remaining $9.8 billion (+15.1% YoY growth). Casual Web Games make up $5.2 billion in PC revenue, but are declining by 7.5% YoY; PC/MMO games consist of $26.7 billion of the total $31.9 billion PC revenue.
The total games industry market is projected to hit $99.6 billion in 2016, consistent with previous analyst projections. VR is accounted for in each of the above core categories.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the global games market is largely fueled by the Asia-Pacific region (58%), with North America following at 25%. The US and Canada jointly drive $25.4Bn in revenue to the industry, Europe, the Middle-East, and Africa (a single group) drive $23.5Bn, China alone pushes $24.4Bn, and Asia-Pacific as a whole drives $46.6Bn (including China).
Read about Newzoo's reporting methods here. The full, in-depth report is here.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.