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The PC Gaming Alliance has published a report – The PC Gaming Alliance Presents the PC Gaming Industry in 2008 – which provides an overview of the PC gaming market, a sector with an annual revenue of approximately $11 billion.
“The biggest story in PC games is the expansion beyond retail,” said Randy Stude, president of PCGA. “PC games have successfully pioneered online subscription and distribution models that have resulted in a global boom that shows no signs of slowing. Despite the advances of the likes of Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network, the online platform that remains the most accessible and robust worldwide is the PC.”
The report describes the three biggest trends in 2008 as the growth of online distribution of games using services such as Steam; the growth of free games and the increased presence of game cards at major retailers (yet to fully emerge in Europe).
Notable highlights from the report include:
The PC is the largest single platform for games with annual worldwide revenue of about $11 billion. This is more than any of the console and portable systems from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Even in North America and Western Europe the PC is the leading single platform for games with over $6 billion in combined revenue from those markets.
Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are the leading products for both revenue and profits. Several Asian MMOGs are generating over $100 million in annual revenue after 5+ years on the market. World of Warcraft is generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. The Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft outsold its predecessor. In 2008, two major new subscription MMOGs (Warhammer Online and Age of Conan) sold over 1 million units at retail.
The trend in Western markets is toward portability and connectivity, with laptops outselling desktops, In addition, the major growth segment in laptops is under-$500 netbooks that are better suited for online casual games.
Casual games have developed into an entire sub-segment led by large industry portals such as Electronic Arts’ Pogo, Yahoo, MSN, Big Fish, Real Networks and others. These top portals can now generate well over $100 million in annual revenue from casual PC games.
