Game industry: PC and mobile above expectations, consoles below.

During the first three quarters of the year, game revenues came in higher than expected. Newzoo previously thought that revenues would be $108.9 billion this year.

The market for PC gaming showed surprising strenght as well, as Newzoo revised the estimate upward from $29.4 billion to $32.3 billion.

Console gaming will end the year slightly lower than anticipated at $33.3 billion. The Chinese games market is expected to end the year at $32.5 billion and Japan will reach $14.0 billion. Newzoo comes up with its estimates and actual results based on continuous tracking of the game revenues reported by more than 100 public companies.

Source

Console gaming is dying!

People are getting smarter and investing in the superior PC platform.

Console gaming won't die but it's going to change massively in the coming years. They'll either go full streaming service (most likely) or become more PC like with modular boxes that can be upgraded (very unlikely). The one thing that's certain is that they cannot continue to produce a full new console every couple of years and expect the casual market to sustain it, especially with the new console being fully backward compatible with, at least, the previous one.

My take on the PC market increasing is down to gamers getting older. The market size has increased with every generation (not console gens but actual people generations) and as those people become adults, find jobs and have more disposable income, PC gaming becomes more attractive and affordable which in turn increases the user base. MS and Sony know this and it's why MS are pushing all the Xbox titles on to Windows and Sony launched PSNow on PC, they want to chase the money earning gamers.

^Agree with this.

Console gaming will not go away anytime soon as long as we have Sony and Nintendo. (especially Sony because of the exclusives, there will always be demand)

The major growth the industry is seeing is in the mobile space. And unless there is some new shift in trends that's likely where most of the growth will be in the foreseeable future. PC market still holding strong though, so I'm happy with that.

Considering EA is part of the game industry, wanting loot boxes in every game, i don't care.

Well, I just bought a 144hz 1440p gsync monitor and I'm waiting for the 8700k to be available here to finally build a new desktop after like 7 years. So I guess I will be adding to that growth again soon.

EA will atleast publish Sea of Solitude, Fe, A Way Out...

People keep mentioning BF2 and Overwatch but IMO Valve is the worst one of all. All this discussion on lootboxes is weirdly skirting around the OG gambling scheme that Valve has had for a long time now. Nip the evil in the bud.

I wonder how much PUBG is responsible for PC gaming doing better than expected

Not that much when it's compared to the real giants, PUGB may the most played game on Steam but it really is a minnow in comparison to LoL and Hearthstone

It seems more like Xbox gaming is dying.

Thanks to Switch, the ultimate 11th Gen non-console mobile gaming platform brahs!

Mostly nerds play pc gaming, so this is no surprise. What else will they do with their spare time, go out and party?

Lol, can't help but laugh...

According to SuperData for Digital Video Game stats for revenue in October was $8.5 billion which is up from last October's $7.4 billion last year. The jump is mainly due to the 28% growth in premium PC game sales. The overall PC sales were boosted by Destiny 2 and PUBG.

Even though this is only for a month it is interesting to see that PUBG has surpassed titles like Crossfire and Dungeon Fighter Online which make a billion a year.

@GarGx1:

I've already passed the point of having disposable income and I still don't find pc gaming more attractive. That doesn't apply to everyone.

I don't care. Every publisher is ready to throw an IP under the bus for a quick buck.

Mobile gaming targets non-gamers. It's a obviously a completely different audience than what PC/consoles target (that being gamers...).

I only discovered PUBG a few weeks ago. A bunch of PC gamers I know also had never heard of it until it was nominated for GOTY.

There isn't anything consoles do better than PC. You can even play PC games in your living room now thanks to Steam Link. That's the only thing consoles had going for them. All major controllers are also compatible with PC (PS4, XB1, Switch, etc.). Graphics are immeasurably better on PC, but that goes without saying. MS doesn't have any exclusives anymore. Sony has a couple. Nintendo is the only one where the majority of their AAA titles are first party.

Also, you never "pass" the point of having disposable income. You either have disposable income or you don't. ;)

@NoodleFighter said:

@GarGx1 said:

@with_teeth26 said:

I wonder how much PUBG is responsible for PC gaming doing better than expected

Not that much when it's compared to the real giants, PUGB may the most played game on Steam but it really is a minnow in comparison to LoL and Hearthstone

According to SuperData for Digital Video Game stats for revenue in October was $8.5 billion which is up from last October's $7.4 billion last year. The jump is mainly due to the 28% growth in premium PC game sales. The overall PC sales were boosted by Destiny 2 and PUBG.

Even though this is only for a month it is interesting to see that PUBG has surpassed titles like Crossfire and Dungeon Fighter Online which make a billion a year.

I'm not denying that PUGB is a huge deal or a great game but if you look at the annual revenues of the biggest games, PUGB is dwarfed by them (it is still a fairly new game though). Not sure what has happened to Hearthstone is was making $25 million + a month.

What that table really does show is the lack of durability of console games and how most them are just a flash in the pan.

I didn't claim my theory did apply to everyone.

@UssjTrunks:

But for someone who doesn't care about performance and hates the garbage that keeps piling up on Steam's library everyday aside from the actual AAA games, consoles are more comfortable. Maybe if Steam had someone watching over the content that gets pumped through, relying on Steam wouldn't be be so bad.

First part of your statement is fair enough, if you don't care about how your games perform that's your choice.

As for the second part, how do you even know what's on Steam, you don't use it? There are lots of indie games on Steam and lots of them are garbage but you only see them if you actually look for them, they aren't shoved down your throat and it's not hard to find what you're looking for. The Steam curators are also a good source for info on lot's a different games and give recommendations on games you may never even consider.

Besides the Steam store isn't the be all and end all of PC gaming, I haven't bought a game directly from Steam for years.

@GarGx1: But still its impressive that a $30 game ($15 in China) is able to be among the ranks of games that mostly rely on microtransactions to generate that much revenue.

Yeah 4/10 games are non-free to play. Think 5/6/10 are only played in Asia, in particular where Tencent dictates the gaming market

It is impressive and by the time PUGB gets a full release, it'll surpass most of them, getting bigger than LoL would take a miracle though. It''l be interesting to see if it dominates on Xbox as well.

My kids and their pals all play ROBLOX, it's not an Asia only game.

Yeah, console gamers are still fighting MTX hard, while the practice is pretty much accepted on PC and massive on mobile. Think it's unexpected just the level of resistance it's facing on console. I guess it makes consoles look weak in a chart like this, but I think it's better for the quality in the long run.

5/6/10 are available in the West/worldwide but they're just way more popular in Asia except Roblox which is a Western game. Destiny 2 and Shadow Of War are non free to play but they have DLC/microtransactions on top of their $60 price tags. World of Warcraft charges players $15 a month and even more for expansions.

Oh didnt know about Roblox, assumed it was eastern one, never heard of it

Yeah, PC and mobile are responsible for everything. Console gamers haven't spent a dime on MTX.

Out of all the games I've played this year it's the console centric AAA multi-platform games that are full of micro-transactions, they aren't that common in PC exclusives. On the other hand Shadow of War, the number 2 best selling game for consoles in October, is probably the one that pushes them the hardest.

Makes sense. PC is truly the ultimate gaming experience you cannot get anywhere else but on PC!

Yeah while microtransactions are accepted on PC its only in the form of F2P games or very cheap base games which even then depending on how they're done we may not like very much. The chart I showed for top revenue games in October on the console side it was almost all AAA $60 games with DLC and microtransactions.

Steam usually shows AAA games first and foremost. The indie shovelware, as @GarGx1 said, only shows up if you actually look for it and follow it. Your reason just sounds like an excuse without any merits. To say you find console gaming preferable is fine, but to just flat out lie about Steam is a pretty fanboy thing to do.

If I go to Steam without signing in, this is what I get on the recommended. It's mostly AAA games.

Everyone has a phone so it's given. Minus console exclusives, almost all publisher are releasing their games on the PC.

Hopefully, this means more PC support. And less PC wannabe aka PS/Xbox support. Leave console gaming to Nintendo, they know how to do it.

Damn that Bait & Switch sure is pushing Handheld Mobile gaming sales. Hope that's not a pattern and all we get in the future is Wii like mobile gaming. :P

@needhealing: Lol, like a console gamer has ever been to a party that wasn't a birthday.

Holy shit that makes perfect sense!

Hes not a troll. PC games appeal to a certain demographic I dont even wanna mention. Whether you accept it or not, doesnt matter

@Enragedhydra: Most are nerds :/ The benefits are there, but most are nerds

MS started supporting PC gaming, now Newzoo expectation for PC gaming increased, not a coincidence. MS getting money from both PC/console markets and Nintendo from console/mobile gaming while Sony from console/insurance.

@Enragedhydra Ignore the troll. He's obviously not intelligent enough to see the irony of calling someone else a nerd on a gaming forum.

Prove me wrong?