Which platform makes the most $ for games, Consoles v PC? Numbers/Charts inside

As most of us know, video game sales charts are never accurate, especially where the PC is concerned. Digital sales are not released by Steam and never accounted for in any chart. This leads to a lot of confusion.

One source the video game industry uses to assess who is selling what is Newzoo. They have a long list of clients, including the below;

Zynga

Blizzard

EA

RTL

Microsoft

Gamestop

Warner Brothers

...and many more. The following information is from their 2011 reports on various markets around the world. You can find this information for yourself at the following link;

http://www.newzoo.com/ENG/1589-Infograph_US.html

This is an assessment of the 6 largest gaming markets in the world, USA, Germany, UK, Brazil, Russia, France. For the sake of clarity, all currencies will be translated into $. We will ignore social/casual gaming (which could be considered PC gaming, i.e. facebook) and we will ignore mobile gaming. Here are the relevant charts;

Consoles = Xbox360 + PS3 + Wii + Handhelds + all older consoles (combined)

PC/MAC Boxed/Download = PC games bought either boxed or from a digital source.

MMO = PC MMO games.

If you want to skip the specific numbers and get to the grand totals, skip to the bottom of this post.

In the US market;

PC Boxed/Download = $4.3 Billion

PC MMO = $2.6 Billion

Consoles = $8 Billion

Germany;

PC Boxed/Download = $2.2 Billion

PC MMO = $0.61 Billion

Consoles = $2 Billion

UK;

PC Boxed/Download = $1.2 Billion

PC MMO = $0.5 Billion

Consoles = $2.5 Billion

Brazil;

PC Boxed/Download = $0.6 Billion

PC MMO = $0.3 Billion

Consoles = $0.4 Billion

Russia;

PC Boxed/Download = $0.6 Billion

PC MMO = $0.3 Billion

Consoles = $0.2 Billion

France;

PC Boxed/Download = $1.1 Billion

PC MMO = $0.3 Billion

Consoles = $2 Billion

Grand Totals

PC/Boxed/Download=$10 Billion

PC MMO = $4.6 Billion

Consoles = $15.1 Billion

Grand Total - PC v Consoles 2011

PC = $14.6 Billion

Consoles(every single console and handheld combined)= $15.1 Billion

As you can see, the PC market is very nearly the same size as the entire console market combined. Even if we disclude MMO games the PC Boxed/Download market is approximately 66% of the size of the entire console market combined.

This demonstrates that the PC market is by a huge margin the largest single platform market out there. Larger than the Xbox360, the PS3 or the Wii and almost as large as all of them combined + the handhelds.

If we also consider that PC games are cheaper than consoles generally, we can assume that the PC market in terms of numbers is larger than all the other consoles combined. Piracy is not as big an issue for the PC as you might have been lead to believe.

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

What is perhaps slightly more interesting is that consoles are getting squeezed more than the PC by new platforms. The PC's percentage seems to stay roughly the same over time, while the consoles appear to lose ground.

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Link3301

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Spartan070

I suspect that that's only true for a very small number of console developers, particularly those who happen to have the full blessings of one of the major publishers. Anyone who doesn't have tens of millions of dollars to spare on marketing will only rarely see the same kind of profits.

Also, if they fail to make the money back in the first couple of weeks, those developers would most likely be screwed. Console sales drop off very quickly (except for Nintendo's first party titles, of course).

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Spartan070

Uhm... maybe you didn;'t read the TC? I mean you couldn't have read that and came to the conclusion you just came to.

OVERALL, the PC is the more profittable market for the game industry. OVERALL.

Yes, a few SPECIFIC titles on console can sell tons of copies vs individual titles on the PC. But that doesn't mean jack $hit for the 99.9% of other developers making games. only the .01% that have spent BILLIONS in marketing and growing a franchise get to capitalize. The rest... not so much.

So you tell me. Let's say you're a game developer. You've got an idea for a great game. Do you target the crowded console market where development ANd marketing costs will be huge, and HOPE that EA, or Sony, or MS, or Activsion decide NOT to release some big title when you release your game, and hope that it becomes a hit so that you can pay the huge marketing/development and royalty fees?

Or do you release on the PC, where even small developers with tiny marketing and development budgets can move well over a million copies fo a good game in a year, and where the community and market is structured in such a way that you will CONTINUE to receive revennue from your game, even 2, 4, 6 years down the line?

I know wher eI'd go.

Of course if you're really smart you'll do what CD Project Red did with Witcher 2. Capitalize on creating a good, solid, PC game in the Pc market, spending only a small amount of capital on development and a small marketing campaign. Sell over a million copies in 7 months, and THEN invest in the console market.

You'll have word of mouth, so a marketing campaign might go further now on the console space, you have the money to invest in that more expensive market, and if you get super lucky, you cna can make just as much money as you did on the PC.

The bottom line is: The markets are NOT as lopsided as console fanboys here and elsewhere insist are. The PC market is HUGE and siginificant to the industry, regardless of what ignorant consolites in damage control mode keep on syaing.

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Spartan070

Yeah, for Bungie and MS. But, the rest? Where's there place? If they develop a game and spend millions in marketing and advertising and the game doesn't sell or simply gets a bad review(Example: Kane and Lynch) that dev and publisher are pretty much screwed. Then that's where we don't have sequels, studios close etc...

Not a huge surprise. Neither side has a compelling lead.lowe0

What? PC (a single platform, as diverse as it is, its just one platform, maybe 2 if Macs are counted in the PC total) is only 3% behind ALL CONSOLES AND HANDHELD's COMBINED!! (At least FIVE different platforms), that means as a single (possibly two counting Mac) platform PC is FAr ahead of everything else. Such hypocrisy, if PS3/X360/Wii mad around as much as all the other consoles and PC combined, people would declare it the clear winner, but when using PC everyone downplays how good its doing, I'm tired of this lying, hypocritical bullcrap when non-PCer's talk about PC games!!

So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting. Also, I do find these numbers a bit strange - shouldn't the PC digital sales be -much- closer to the boxed sales? Or are these stats missing a lot of PC DD sales numbers (such as Steam's)...hm...Planeforger

Depends on the country, as you can see in the US the digital sales market for the PC is larger than the boxed, but in Germany it is the other way round. Ultimately digital sales account for over 50% of PC sales globally.

PC Gaming reigns in Brazil. It's not surprising considering the abusive tax policy for imported console games and console hardware. For example, Uncharted 3 costs R$ 199,00 (~US$100) while Shogun 2: Fall of Samurai costs R$ 24,00 (~US$12,00) on Nuuvem (brazilian DD store) .

Holy cow, I just noticed something.

The list of partners for newzoo doesn't include Steam. So valve games, some of the biggest PC selling publisher, and the ton of games NOT published by other partners, but available through Steam aren't even counted in there!

What about Bethesda, are they in there too?

So it mgiht be that, the slice of the pie for PC is at least a bit larger than listed in those numbers.

PC Gaming reigns in Brazil. It's not surprising considering the abusive tax policy for imported console games and console hardware. For example, Uncharted 3 costs R$ 199,00 (~US$100) while Shogun 2: Fall of Samurai costs R$ 24,00 (~US$12,00) on Nuuvem (brazilian DD store) .

RyuRanVII

and while that's good, I think Steam and other digital places and their publisher/deeloper partners need to do better at addressing this issue.

You can't charge the same for a new game in Venezuela than in the U.S. It's a price that the maarket there won't support.

Providing a legit way fo rgamers from all over the world to have access to games, provide localization services for devs, AND aggressive price placement in various markets is the #1 way to fight piracy, IMHO.

[QUOTE="lowe0"]Not a huge surprise. Neither side has a compelling lead.Stalkerfieldsis

What? PC (a single platform, as diverse as it is, its just one platform, maybe 2 if Macs are counted in the PC total) is only 3% behind ALL CONSOLES AND HANDHELD's COMBINED!! (At least FIVE different platforms), that means as a single (possibly two counting Mac) platform PC is FAr ahead of everything else. Such hypocrisy, if PS3/X360/Wii mad around as much as all the other consoles and PC combined, people would declare it the clear winner, but when using PC everyone downplays how good its doing, I'm tired of this lying, hypocritical bullcrap when non-PCer's talk about PC games!!

So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting.Planeforger

Not surprising at all. You have 10+ million people paying 15$ a month to play WoW and there's millions more throwing money at other MMORPG's.

Good love from Germany and Russia on the PC.

DD will become a bigger pro and it will always sell more.

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Spartan070

Funny, there's still a fair amount of people who still play Halo:CE on PC.

So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting.Planeforger

Yep, teh ultimate milkage.

[QUOTE="Spartan070"]

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Planeforger

I suspect that that's only true for a very small number of console developers, particularly those who happen to have the full blessings of one of the major publishers. Anyone who doesn't have tens of millions of dollars to spare on marketing will only rarely see the same kind of profits.

Also, if they fail to make the money back in the first couple of weeks, those developers would most likely be screwed. Console sales drop off very quickly (except for Nintendo's first party titles, of course).

[QUOTE="Spartan070"]

[QUOTE="Link3301"]

An this kids is why so many developers are on the pc.

Kinthalis

Uhm... maybe you didn;'t read the TC? I mean you couldn't have read that and came to the conclusion you just came to. Not without having literal holes in your brain.

OVERALL, the PC is the more profittable market for the game industry. OVERALL.

Yes, a few SPECIFIC titles on console can sell tons of copies vs individual titles on the PC. But that doesn't mean jack $hit for the 99.9% of other developers making games. only the .01% that have spent BILLIONS in marketing and growing a franchise get to capitalize. The rest... not so much.

So you tell me. Let's say you're a game developer. You've got an idea for a great game. Do you target the crowded console market where development ANd marketing costs will be huge, and HOPE that EA, or Sony, or MS, or Activsion decide NOT to release some big title when you release your game, and hope that it becomes a hit so that you can pay the huge marketing/development and royalty fees?

Or do you release on the PC, where even small developers with tiny marketing and development budgets can move well over a million copies fo a good game in a year, and where the community and market is structured in such a way that you will CONTINUE to receive revennue from your game, even 2, 4, 6 years down the line?

I know wher eI'd go.

Of course if you're really smart you'll do what CD Project Red did with Witcher 2. Capitalize on creating a good, solid, PC game in the Pc market, spending only a small amount of capital on development and a small marketing campaign. Sell over a million copies in 7 months, and THEN invest in the console market.

You'll have word of mouth, so a marketing campaign might go further now on the console space, you have the money to invest in that more expensive market, and if you get super lucky, you cna can make just as much money as you did on the PC.

The bottom line is: The markets are NOT as lopsided as console fanboys here and elsewhere insist are. The PC market is HUGE and siginificant to the industry, regardless of what ignorant consolites in damage control mode keep on syaing.

What's even more amazing, is that PC alone is as profitable as all consoles combined even when not considering casual games on PC.... But the console sales statistics do not separate casual gaming, which means that shovelware, kinect stuff etc is taken into account.

This clearly doesn't include DLC which is publishers/developers bread and butter on consoles.

I am assuming if instead of "amount of money spent", it was "amount of games bought" then PC may fare better.

This clearly doesn't include DLC which is publishers/developers bread and butter on consoles.

brennanhuff

Yes it does, it includes ALL money spent on games, DLC or otherwise.

Would be interesting to see the numbers if paired with Steam.

PC absolutely destroys each individual console in $made too?

Nice. So most games, most exclusives, best version of "90%" of multiplats, best gfx, best performance, and now most sales.

Sheesh, crawl out from your shell and get some fresh air lol.

Spartan070

KinthalisPosts: 2350Spartan070Posts: 13842

lol wut.

Yep,was aware of this already,and no suprises there.Glad to be a PC gamer,also a nice thread :)

[QUOTE="Planeforger"]So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting.Spartan070

Yep, teh ultimate milkage.

Says the person with a Halo avatar :P

Would be interesting to see the numbers if paired with Steam.

slimjimbadboy

I believe they take Steam numbers into account.

Holy cow, I just noticed something.

The list of partners for newzoo doesn't include Steam. So valve games, some of the biggest PC selling publisher, and the ton of games NOT published by other partners, but available through Steam aren't even counted in there!

What about Bethesda, are they in there too?

So it mgiht be that, the slice of the pie for PC is at least a bit larger than listed in those numbers.

Kinthalis

It most definitely is larger, only here in this twilight zone known as SW do console gamers honestly believe that consoles lead the way in gaming.

[QUOTE="Kinthalis"]

Holy cow, I just noticed something.

The list of partners for newzoo doesn't include Steam. So valve games, some of the biggest PC selling publisher, and the ton of games NOT published by other partners, but available through Steam aren't even counted in there!

What about Bethesda, are they in there too?

So it mgiht be that, the slice of the pie for PC is at least a bit larger than listed in those numbers.

menes777

It most definitely is larger, only here in this twilight zone known as SW do console gamers honestly believe that consoles lead the way in gaming.

Misleading numbers are misleading. Where are the numbers from Japan? You just said charts don't tell the whole story. Don't try to change that tune now that you finally found one that favors the PC.DarthBilf

It is the ONLY one available, it is not a retail sales chart, this is a company who produces reports that guide the industry. Not some VGchartz nonsense based only on retail sales. If you can find another company of similar note doing the same thing then feel free to post their reports. They do not produce a report on Japan, presumably because they can't get the numbers for it. If you can find a similarly reliable report then please feel free to post it here.

As has been stated, this companies reports are used by the biggest gaming companies around. This is obviously a reality check for you. That's not really my fault though is it.

edit - I should also add that Gamespot uses Newzoo as they have used graphs/charts in their news articles multiple times.

[QUOTE="menes777"]

[QUOTE="Kinthalis"]

Holy cow, I just noticed something.

The list of partners for newzoo doesn't include Steam. So valve games, some of the biggest PC selling publisher, and the ton of games NOT published by other partners, but available through Steam aren't even counted in there!

What about Bethesda, are they in there too?

So it mgiht be that, the slice of the pie for PC is at least a bit larger than listed in those numbers.

DarthBilf

It most definitely is larger, only here in this twilight zone known as SW do console gamers honestly believe that consoles lead the way in gaming.

COD also sells a lot more on consoles than it does on the PC. That's irrelevant though. We are talking not about single games, but the games market as a whole. Which platform sells the most games and makes the most money. Quite obviously as a single platform it is the PC by a wide margin. In fact it is almost equal to every single console and handheld combined in 2011. I apprecaite you can't get your head around it, but this was the point of the thread. Alot of people such as yourself are horribly misinformed. I am just correcting that.

Misleading numbers are misleading. Where are the numbers from Japan? You just said charts don't tell the whole story. Don't try to change that tune now that you finally found one that favors the PC.DarthBilf

gimme a fn break consolite

seems like PC buttraped console.

grade a ass whoopin by pc

lolsole

[QUOTE="Spartan070"]

[QUOTE="Planeforger"]So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting.Rocker6

Yep, teh ultimate milkage.

Says the person with a Halo avatar :P

:lol:

[QUOTE="DarthBilf"]Misleading numbers are misleading. Where are the numbers from Japan? You just said charts don't tell the whole story. Don't try to change that tune now that you finally found one that favors the PC.iamrob7

It is the ONLY one available, it is not a retail sales chart, this is a company who produces reports that guide the industry. Not some VGchartz nonsense based only on retail sales. If you can find another company of similar note doing the same thing then feel free to post their reports. They do not produce a report on Japan, presumably because they can't get the numbers for it. If you can find a similarly reliable report then please feel free to post it here.

As has been stated, this companies reports are used by the biggest gaming companies around. This is obviously a reality check for you. That's not really my fault though is it.

edit - I should also add that Gamespot uses Newzoo as they have used graphs/charts in their news articles multiple times.

[QUOTE="DarthBilf"][QUOTE="menes777"]

It most definitely is larger, only here in this twilight zone known as SW do console gamers honestly believe that consoles lead the way in gaming.

iamrob7

COD also sells a lot more on consoles than it does on the PC. That's irrelevant though. We are talking not about single games, but the games market as a whole. Which platform sells the most games and makes the most money. Quite obviously as a single platform it is the PC by a wide margin. In fact it is almost equal to every single console and handheld combined in 2011. I apprecaite you can't get your head around it, but this was the point of the thread. Alot of people such as yourself are horribly misinformed. I am just correcting that.

[QUOTE="DarthBilf"]Misleading numbers are misleading. Where are the numbers from Japan? You just said charts don't tell the whole story. Don't try to change that tune now that you finally found one that favors the PC.shreshto

gimme a fn break consolite

[QUOTE="iamrob7"]

[QUOTE="DarthBilf"] In sales? They absolutely do. Find ANY recent report that shows PC sales surpassing console sales. Plus, some Valve games like Left 4 Dead sell more copies on the consoles than they do the PC, and I would assume the combined PS3/360 sales of Skyrim beat the PC handily, since the 360 and PC were basically a dead heat for Oblivion. Edit: It seems i was giving the PC too much credit. Todd Howard said 90% of Bethesda's audience is on consoles.DarthBilf

COD also sells a lot more on consoles than it does on the PC. That's irrelevant though. We are talking not about single games, but the games market as a whole. Which platform sells the most games and makes the most money. Quite obviously as a single platform it is the PC by a wide margin. In fact it is almost equal to every single console and handheld combined in 2011. I apprecaite you can't get your head around it, but this was the point of the thread. Alot of people such as yourself are horribly misinformed. I am just correcting that.

Are you butthurt bro? He left out countries that lean heavily towards PC, too. Sorry that you can't play sales anymore.

[QUOTE="DarthBilf"][QUOTE="iamrob7"]

COD also sells a lot more on consoles than it does on the PC. That's irrelevant though. We are talking not about single games, but the games market as a whole. Which platform sells the most games and makes the most money. Quite obviously as a single platform it is the PC by a wide margin. In fact it is almost equal to every single console and handheld combined in 2011. I apprecaite you can't get your head around it, but this was the point of the thread. Alot of people such as yourself are horribly misinformed. I am just correcting that.

Link3301

Are you butthurt bro? He left out countries that lean heavily towards PC, too. Sorry that you can't play sales anymore.

[QUOTE="Spartan070"]

[QUOTE="Planeforger"]So, as a rough estimate...MMOs alone produce as much money annually as any single console platform? Interesting.Rocker6

Yep, teh ultimate milkage.

Says the person with a Halo avatar :P

[QUOTE="Rocker6"]

[QUOTE="Spartan070"]

Yep, teh ultimate milkage.

Spartan070

Says the person with a Halo avatar :P

In bottles,you say?

These bottles perhaps? :P

:D