Study: Annual PC gaming revs hit $10.7 billion

In Leipzig, PC Gaming Alliance declares only 30 percent of platform's 2007 revenues were at retail; online income was $4.8 billion, digital distribution $2 billion.

Rumors of PC gaming's death are extremely premature, according to the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA). Speaking today at the Leipzig Games Convention, the nonprofit industry body--which was formed just this March--banged the pro-PC drum loudly. There, it presented a report titled "Horizons," which purported to show the true strength of PC gaming worldwide in 2007.

In January, leading industry-research firm The NPD Group pegged 2007 US PC game sales as $911 million--a small fraction of the year's nearly $19 billion in US game sales. However, according to the PCGA, that figure, which only included sales of boxed PC games at retail, was but a small slice of PC game revenues. Indeed, the industry body--whose members include AMD, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Activision Blizzard--says retail sales now account for only 30 percent of PC game income internationally.

According to the PCGA's Horizons report, games on the oldest active gaming platform generated around $10.7 billion in sales worldwide. Of that, $4.8 billion--nearly half--comes from online revenue, including subscriptions for massively multiplayer games such as the omnipresent World of Warcraft. Digital distribution sales hit $2 billion globally, with in-game and game portal advertising revenues reaching $800 million. (Neither of the latter two categories is included in NPD's reports, although the industry body announced in February that it would begin issuing quarterly reports on US subscriptions sometime this year.)

In a statement provided by the PCGA, DFC Intelligence David Cole espoused his belief that, far from shrinking, the PC gaming market will continue to expand rapidly. "The real key has been the rapid growth in penetration of broadband-connected PCs in all markets around the world," he declared. "Broadband-connected PCs are the key driver of growth for PC gaming. DFC Intelligence estimated that by the end of 2007 less than one-third of households in the top 20 markets for games had a high-speed Internet connection. That clearly indicates that there is still plenty of growth to come."

The PCGA says that, going forward, it will release a new Horizons report semi-annually. For more details on the organization, visits its official Web site, www.pcgamingalliance.org.

102 Comments

  • chimairawr

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 9:37 am PT

    Fair play to the PC games companies.

    I myself am a console gamer. I've never really gotten into PC gaming because:
    1) my PC sucks
    2) I don't really have the money to upgrade

    To every person who is willing to invest a lot of time and money into making their PC run any new game at lightning speeds, I have a lot of respect for you. But I myself don't want to take the risk of buying a component only for it to become swiftly outdated, or to buy a game only to find out it won't run. That's why I like console gaming, I know every game will work and I know it will last me a good few years.

    I don't think PC gamers and console gamers ever need to be at each other's throats. Some great PC games have been ported to consoles, and some console games have been ported to PCs. It's a win-win situation for us all.

  • vortex_gw

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 1:27 pm PT

    PC ftw! The PC doubles it's power every 6-12 months. Consoles... well the fanboys know.

  • dark_being

    Posted Aug 22, 2008 3:34 am PT

    It's a proud day for all of us PC gamers

  • brentredinger

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 11:55 am PT

    well my previous comment was deleted because it was "posted solely to annoy people." So be careful not to hurt peoples feelings...I mean you can only say positive things about pc gaming or else. PC gaming is so healthy it needs moderators to defend its honor.

  • Vengefulextol

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 3:43 am PT

    @janpieterzun

    The witcher might have been poorly translated, but It's been quite a while since I've been that immersed in any gaming experience. Something of Bethesda quality is coming out in a couple of weeks, namely fallout 3.

    And furthermore, you can't say the PC is a dying platform because of lack of innovation, that way, consoles would've been dead ages ago. How many mario's, Dead or Alive's, Burnout's, and final fantasies have console's seen? And they weren't all pinnacles of creativity and innovation.

    I do agree that the single player RPG is in a bit of a poor state the past few years, and there has been more focus on MMORPGS. But it's not all RPG's. Company of Heroes was pretty innovative, and Supreme Commander pretty ambitious. Not to mention Crysis.

    Okay, game companies make a lot more on consoles. But where I live (the netherlands) you pay €59,99 for a console game and €49,99 for a pc game. Overpricing does help their wallet.

  • Kez1984

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 2:47 pm PT

    Pc gaming forever!

  • Proman84

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 1:59 pm PT

    Way to go! PC has always been the best console!

  • DecadesOfGaming

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 12:25 pm PT

    I've been into Xbox for some time now; but after some bad experiences with the 360 it's taken me a while to realise that these 'next gen' over priced consoles can't compete with the power of the P.C.. Looking forward to getting into P.C gaming once I've upgraded my current machine.

  • faimur

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 12:08 pm PT

    This goes to show PC Gaming is alive and kicking a**! It doesn't surprise me becuase NPD's numbers always excludes the online sale of PC games, thats why it makes PC gaming smaller than it appears. PC gaming is here to stay. Companies like Nvidia and ATI spend almost half a billion dollars in R$D to bring new generation of graphics hardware. They wouldn't be spending that much money developing new graphics card if they didn't think anyone would buy their graphics cards. These companies aren't stupid. Those PC bashers doesn't know or glosses over the fact that the fact that Xbox 360 runs on PC hardware, the Xbox 360 runs and ATI graphics chip (X1800/X1900 generation) and the PS3 runs on graphics chip based on the 7800 GTX and these two chips are old in the PC world, PC's already have much more sophisticated graphics chips. The 1.4 billion transistor GTX 280 and the monster 1.9 billion transistor 4870 X2 B****-SLAPS the PS3 and the Xbox 360. These two chips have more transistors then all of the PS3 and the Xbox 360 combined, lol.! PS3 and the Xbox 360 have 3 year old hardware, PC's have surpassed them by many generations. And those who say PC gaming doesn't have that many good games. Excuse me, while I go play Bishock, Crysis, Gears of War, Mass Effect, The Orange Box, Assasin's Creed, GRID, the latest NFS games, and soon to be released GTA IV (which will look better on PC). Did I mention other good games that will come on the PC like Far Cry 2, Crysis Warhead and eventually Gears of War 2.

  • Ninja_RaVeN

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 11:51 am PT

    I WILL ALWAYS BE A PC GAMER!

  • 2bitSmOkEy

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 11:20 am PT

    machockey

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:12 pm PT

    to ctg867: if you take away the 360 then council gaming dramatically drops.... i don't see your point... without halo 3, 360 revenue drops... without blu ray ps3 dramatically drops... these things equal revenue.... right? so what exactly are u saying... if you take away all pc has to offer revenue will drop.... no sh't sherlock... thats like saying if a 360 were never made less people would have one....

    ahaha +1

  • Janpieterzun

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 11:03 am PT

    Digital Distribution they say, i say that it is in its death throws. If they mean cause of singular titles like WoW TBC, then the vultures are circling. One game does not make an industry when all pc game companies are in a hurry to make MMO's then i see a problem. Look at the PC releases these past few years and where they are headed...when was the last ground breaking RPG, the poorly translated Witcher? I mean something Bioware or Bethesda quality? Even the RTS's have become subpar. PC games were renown for their complexity and innovation, they took risks where consoles dared not go. But its all being streamlined and formulaic, everything looks like something from blizzard, activision ect.. PC gaming is dying it will all be MMO's at some point. And that my friends is the end.

  • spiderman120988

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 10:26 am PT

    nice! already got the money saved in the bank for september's crop of pc games!!! i still buy retail though...i like looking at the colorful boxes on the shelves. =P

  • BontraXenderKyl

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 10:20 am PT

    That's also 'one of the reasons why it worth to be a PC gamer in...'

  • Makemap

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 9:44 am PT

    Everybody waiting for Left for Dead?

  • tjdeep_2007

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 9:09 am PT

    awesome news...pc is the ultimate game machine...

  • Predator123

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 8:16 am PT

    PC gaming is the ultimate gaming experience imo. I just built a new pc and I think with the evolution of high end components on the market that are (after a long time) priced at a point that we can afford, and I use that word lightly still. I would also bet the PC gamer is in a much older demographic, which helps as well I know I am from the quake generation and while quake is dead, games like CS are still played everyday by millons (I still play every day) a game that is what... 10 years old id you count beta 1, that is pc gamings legacy, and what will keep it alive.. Great games

    The fact is, The glory days of pc gaming are over, the days when a 64mb video card would roast quake 2, when an overclock gain of 500 mhz was insane, the extreme evolution of graphics/gameplay with each new game, heck the fact that PC gamer mags used to be well over 200 pages. Its a new generation of minor re-skins of old games with a different name. Thankfully there are new games on the horizon to keep it alive, man CPL died in march. I hope pc gaming does not die, consoles are just not the same.

  • Wej_accept_it

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 5:45 am PT

    Just thing how much those numbers will change when the next Half Life game hits.

  • Tebbit

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 5:03 am PT

    Viva la PC!

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 3:51 am PT

    I think anyone who isnt a moron realizes that NPD hasn't included online subscriptions and digital purchases in their stuff ever so when small numbers show up ... thats why. Its usually ignorant console gamers trying to for some reason 1-up their own parent which lead to console gaming .... PC gaming isnt dying at all, like this shows its growing rapidly.

  • Vengefulextol

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 2:47 am PT

    Most people seem to ignore the fact that if PC gaming dies, a lot of companies will have big trouble. I mean, with no (for example) Crysis 2, who will buy Nvidia's quad SLI setups? Essentially, while the upgrading is at times quite expensive, it drives the innovation of for example graphic processors.

    As for console gaming, yes, I am going to buy a 360, but only because I loved ninja gaiden on the Xbox and I desperately want to play Ninja Gaiden 2. Games that will come out on the 360 and pc? Pc of course. Next month I'm gonna upgrade my card to a 9800 GTX and I'll be done for the next 2 years, perhaps a new CPU at the beginning of 2009, but my old 4400 X2 still works like a charm.

    The one thing PC offers that consoles can never offer, is scalability. Fact is, games that come out now (can) look better on a new PC than on a console. A year from now, the Next-Gen consoles will look positively last-gen compared to the graphics on a pc. I'm not bashing consoles, it's just that PC gaming offers so many more options.

  • sportwarrior

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 2:42 am PT

    Good. I love my PS3, but nothing can ever replace my PC... Except for a better PC, which I hope to build in the next few months

  • MichaeltheCM

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 1:22 am PT

    impressive #s. i think it'll only improve with so many good PC games coming out this year

  • HufflePuff-TLH

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 12:53 am PT

    Pc gamer here 2, allways have been, dont have any consoles, and dont realy need it, do have a 360 gamepad though, for DMC4 hehe

  • Alkpaz

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 12:50 am PT

    Still a PC gamer at 31yrs of age..
    I DO own a PS3, no Wii or 360, I told myself I would buy one after SC4 came out and I did. Just like I did the Dreamcast, and Soul Blade with the PS1. My heart is with the PC, though. I basically stopped serious console gaming after the N64 came out. Goldeneye and Killer Instinct Gold were essentially all I played on the platform; not true with my NES or SNES. Those two systems got worn to the bone. Although, my first gaming platform was the Apple IIc, but I did play with my Turbo Train and Man-y-Faces. And I also had the GI Joe Aircraft carrier Man, toys were a ton better back in the 80s. Shame that they are made of such cheap plastic now. Heck, kids want a PSP or DS now instead of some plastic soldiers! Where is the creativity in that? At least with a PC you can design levels and make games. (depending on your skills)

    I also agree PC gaming is a hobby, and is less expensive than say model gas powered aircraft, or ricing up a vehicle. Heck it's less expensive than collecting old coins or stamps. True, the value of PC parts don't go up. (unless in rare cases like that of the Apple I) That could also be said of most tech based hobbies. Console gaming is also a hobbie with its roots in something called Arcade (coin-op) gaming. Though, the social interaction one recieved in an arcade was moreso than one had with a console at home. Now that one has a buddie list on X-box Live and on PS3 online, I guess the killer would be that social interaction (on the arcade level) has now been brought to the consoles with this last stack of consoles. Gone are the days of blowing into the cartridge to make "said game" work in your NES. And gone is the love that was DOS by altering autoexec.bat's and config.sys's and even making *.bat files. But that is the price we pay for progress. The sooner we adapt to change the sooner we can set aside our old preconceptions about an OS, console, etc. So if I would define myself in this whole argument, I would say that I perfer the PC in lue of consoles. But, I don't "hate" consoles.

  • MindlessTeef

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:54 pm PT

    Long live the PC! Which it will... Console gamers that knock the PC might also want to remind themselves that without PC hardware... there will be no consoles... or at least, not to the same extend. All 3 major consoles (360, PS3 and Wii) use IBM processors and 2 (360 and Wii) use ATi graphic cards where the PS3 uses Nvidia... all 3 companies create PC related tech

  • Wes_Scott

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:34 pm PT

    In well over 20 years of hardcore gaming on various systems, I've never been even remotely convinced that consoles are anywhere near the better gaming platform. Though there are a host of other reasons, that reason alone is why I don't feel we will ever see the end of PC Gaming.

    As for digital distribution, I am aware of the trend, but am NOT it's biggest fan. Call me old-fashioned, but I have bookshelves upon bookshelves of game boxes that I actually LIKE collecting almost as much as I like playing the games themselves. I have purchased only 3 titles from digital distribution in 10 years, and all have been in the last year. (BF2142 Northern Strike Expansion Pack, Galciv II - Dark Avatar, and Galciv II-Twilight of the Arnor)
    I bought them that way only because I couldn't get them in the stores in a reasonable amount of time, but I had also purchased when oferred, the hard copy of the CD as well as the download.

  • machockey

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:12 pm PT

    to ctg867: if you take away the 360 then council gaming dramatically drops.... i don't see your point... without halo 3, 360 revenue drops... without blu ray ps3 dramatically drops... these things equal revenue.... right? so what exactly are u saying... if you take away all pc has to offer revenue will drop.... no sh't sherlock... thats like saying if a 360 were never made less people would have one....

  • ctg867

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:03 pm PT

    Take away WoW, or The Sims, or Steam, or advertising, or expensive PC hardware, and the amount of money to be made in the PC gaming business dramatically drops. I just hate how studies like these don't mention specific things like that and how much they inflate revenue and income numbers. Just saying...

  • Sam_2006

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 10:32 pm PT

    PC GAMING IS AND WILL AND WAS NEVER DEAD !! go PC go !!

  • a-sa

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 10:27 pm PT

    Pc gaming die the day you stop playing games on PC !
    Long live the King !

  • andrewlkt

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 9:56 pm PT

    I barely play consoles anymore for the past 8 years. It's been mostly PC gaming for me. Consoles just don't have strategy games or any games with much strategic depth. They can't handle Civ, Total War, Starcraft WoW or even Diablo. They're just too simple for me. I've played some console games and it seems all the games with strategic depth are turn-based or semi-turn-based games from Japan.

    I think that's where most PC game makers blew it. It's the complexity that people crave, not just the graphics. Blizzard's games never had steep requirements and they sold well for a reason. They were easy to pick-up and enjoy but had the complexity that had people coming back for more.

    Also, they screwed up on the piracy thing. Games still get pirated quickly but legitimate buyers get harmed by all the DRM crap they're doing. It's now come to the point where you are more likely to have a game work by pirating it online versus by buying a retail copy of the game. I think they've actually lost more revenue due to DRM causing problems and people abandoning PC gaming completely versus what they lost due to piracy.

  • ikari-leader

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 9:19 pm PT

    GTA IV with auto-aim?...

    PC is THE TRUE gaming platform.

  • Fancelot

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 8:39 pm PT

    For consolers who wish or want PC gaming to die, you guys are f@cking retarded. The phenomenal advancement in processing and graphics ability is due to PC gaming (competition of ATI and NVIDIA, AMD and INTEL). If there were no PC gaming there would be no xbox, PS2, Xbox360, or PS3... well there might still be consoles, however the graphics would be a hell of a lot sh!ttier and improve a whole lot slower. Be thankful that you need to upgrade your graphics cards so often, all it means the graphic quality of games is accelerating alot, and that we can probably play LOTR or Star Wars CG level games in the near future.

    For those of you complaining about the price of PC gaming... get a f@cking job, having a hobby such as PC gaming is cheap as hell. Let me elaborate.

    For the PCs, upgrades, and games it only costs maybe $1500-2000 (I built a complete system for only 1500, but it will probably last 4 years with minor upgrades) every year average to play the latest games with the latest graphics... that's less than 5% of the average national income. For less than 5% of your income to maximize a hobby that probably take up more than 50% of your free time is a damn good deal.

    BTW kids have no right to complain about the cost of PC gaming...

  • Pete5506

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 7:45 pm PT

    Go PC gaming

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 7:09 pm PT

    I am so sick of these people saying that PC gaming is dead, it will never die, period. The open nature of the platform means that there will always be someone, somewhere putting out product for it and even if heavy hitters like Valve, ID Software and Blizzard decide to pull their support for the platform then someone new will just step in to take their place.

  • RomisSandthief

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 6:29 pm PT

    If anyone thinks that a 10.7 Billion industry is dead they need to get their head checked.

    Besides Almost all good games for the consoles are also out for PC.

  • Sithlord

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 6:06 pm PT

    I for one think PC gaming is dead. I have a WII, a 360 and getting the PS3. All of those have such superior products. Too bad my 360 is busted for the 5th time and the Wii wiimote broke. Love that quality

    There is nothing good on PC. Now if you excuse me while I play Crysis, C&C3, Mass Effect (PC) pre-order Spore, Diablo 3, SC2, Warhead, WthLK and more. Sorry.. yup, good on PC. Move along.


    haha Yeah right. Long live PC.

  • ThumbTwitcher

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 5:29 pm PT

    Even though I am not an avid pc gamer, being as video games originated through computers one would think that the pc as a gaming platform would be the last die.

  • unnamed475

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 4:16 pm PT

    @brianpoetzel of course dude i didn't mean EVERY pc gamer downloads all single player games. remember 911 million dollars worth of retail boxes were sold. and you have to think, how many of those were online games that were required buys to play. 1/2? 2/3?. your probably in a very very low percentage of people that buy all your pc games regardless if they are online games or single player. its all just speculation on my part but you cant really deny the ridiculous amount of pirating going on.

  • Akatsuki398

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    I can't wait for the new expansion pack to come out.What'll there be?Be races,classes,skills,and quests?We hope so.

  • DarthMuffin

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:18 pm PT

    Timbydude: what does "almost completely useless" mean to you? My current PC is nearly 4 years old, cost ~$1500 back then, and is still quite decent (with a graphics card change along the way). Of course it's not "everything maxed" material, but I can still handle newer releases.

    That being said, I do think that the constantly rising system requirements are what hurt PC gaming. Consoles last for around 5 years, but a PC won't without upgrades. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, any "off the shelf" PC was almost guaranteed to be able to play most of what hits the shelves for a few years. Nowadays it's getting a bit ridiculous; gaming PCs cost a lot more than consoles. It seems like there's only Blizzard to make games for the average computer these days. It's a good thing their games are good =)

    I'm also inclined to disagree with unnamed475 on how the most succesful PC games are MMOs because these can't be pirated. MMOs have some of lowest requirements for a given "generation" of releases. MMOs also have much longer lifespawns than single player games, and so a given computer can handle the same MMO for many years.

  • PsychoBear

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:12 pm PT

    PC's forever!

  • joeyfine

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:00 pm PT

    @Timbydude

    I laugh @ your comment. build one. its cheaper and will do all the same things.

  • Gruug

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 2:52 pm PT

    PC Gaming is forever here to stay! Do any of you complaining about the price of a PC know you can make your own for as little as $600? Don't know how? Find a 14 year old geek, he can do it for ya.... .

  • technowiz999

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 2:42 pm PT

    Glad to see the PCs are fighting back. If and when consoles get all the exclusive content that PCs get then they may have a chance...still a cold one in hell though

  • brianpoetzel

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 2:35 pm PT

    @timydude: If you would have built it yourself you could have gotten the same rig for half the price.

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