In context: The PC and console games market remains profitable for developers and hardware vendors, despite the decline in computer sales in recent years. In 2022, several major games were released for PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch, including Total War: Warhammer 3, Elden Ring, Hitman 3, Ghostwire: Tokyo, God of War and the indie blockbuster Stray.
The Newzoo report on computer and console games for 2023 reveals several interesting facts about the state of the global computer and console games industry. According to the report, the total revenue from the games in 2022 amounted to $ 92.3 billion, which is 2.2% less than in the previous year.
While console games accounted for 56.2% of revenue, PC games, both packaged and downloadable, accounted for 41.3% of the market. The last 2.5% was spent on browser games on PC.
In 2022, the United States was the largest gaming market in the world, accounting for $31.2 billion in revenue and 34% of global sales. The Asia-Pacific region took second place with expenditures of $30.2 billion, accounting for 33% of global revenues. Europe was the third largest market with $24.3 billion in gaming revenue, accounting for 26% of the global market.
Overall, the US and China were the two largest gaming markets in the world, accounting for almost half (48%) of total global PC and console revenue.
One of the most notable pieces of information gleaned from the report is that average game time dropped by a whopping 23% between 2021 and 2022 on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation. However, the report claims that this decline is more of a “corrective step” as people began to transition to normal life after the pandemic.
One of the main reasons for the decline in revenue last year was the postponement of several major releases due to obstacles caused by the pandemic. However, the industry is expected to get a significant boost this year with the release of several major games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The report also notes that more and more AAA and AA publishers are switching to a subscription model, as companies prefer to release fewer games and instead focus on extending the life of existing franchises such as Fortnite, Minecraft and ROBLOX.
The last important point in the report concerns the growing gender equality in games. Although PC and console games have always been dominated by men, the situation is changing for the better as more and more women take games seriously. According to the report, 40% of all players last year were women, which made the market fairer than ever.
