PC Gaming Alliance - 2008 Report ($54 Billion Software/Hardware)

[Pure Anarchy]

A new report from the PC Gaming Alliance into the state of the platform in 2008 has revealed that the "largest single platform for games" took around USD 11 billion over the course of the 12 months.

It also noted the growth of digital distribution on the platform, driven by the continuing success of services such as Steam, the growth of free-to-play titles utilising micro-transactions, and the sale of game cards at retail chains.

MMOs were cited as one of the major sources of income for the PC games industry, noting World of Warcraft's USD 1 billion-plus contribution as well as several Asian MMOs taking USD 100 million apiece.

"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."

North America and Europe Software
Revenue by Platform 2007
Platform 2007 Revenue (billion)
PC $6.18
Xbox 360 $4.15
Wii $3.58
Nintendo DS $3.31
PlayStation 2 $2.55
PlayStation 3 $1.92
PSP $1.54

Emerging Markets

1 - Russia/Eastern Europe (300 million population, Russia with 140 million)
2 - India (1.1 billion population)
3 - Brazil (190 million population)
4 - Southeast Asia (Vietnam - 90 million / 20k Internet Cafes; Thailand - 64 million / 12k Internet Cafes; Malaysia - 25 million - 3k Internet Cafes; Indonesia - 235 million / 7.5k Internet Cafes)

The summary of these findings are that PC Gaming is a substantial $54 Billion per year industry. Gaming software (retail, digital distribution, online subscription, advertising and other business models) generated $10.7 Billion which according to most industry studies would make PC game software responsible for nearly one third of every dollar generated in the gaming software industry. This makes the personal computer by far the No. 1 platform for gaming worldwide. The hardware revenues for PC gaming include the PCs purchased by gamers and any peripheral component upgrades done in the year 2007. At $43 Billion this dwarfs the hardware revenues of competing gaming platforms by two-to-one.

Podem fazer o download do report aqui. Há que ter em conta que artigo foca-se essencialmente nas vendas de software, apesar de também incluir alguns dados sobre as vendas de hardware.

Fica também o aviso de que este tópico é para discutir o artigo de forma civilizada, evitem flames e comentários desnecessários.

 

[IceKimi]

Gostava de ver números certos sobre a diferença entre distribuição física e digital para ter uma ideia, mas 11 biliões é um excelente número.

 

[Pure Anarchy]

Nem sei se eles têm acesso aos dados concretos, tendo em conta a quantidade de serviços de distribuição digital diferentes. Mas seria bastante interessante de ver, no report eles fazem uma estimativa de cerca de 2 biliões.

Mais alguma informação interessante:

The summary of these findings are that PC Gaming is a substantial $54 Billion per year industry. Gaming software (retail, digital distribution, online subscription, advertising and other business models) generated $10.7 Billion which according to most industry studies would make PC game software responsible for nearly one third of every dollar generated in the gaming software industry. This makes the personal computer by far the No. 1 platform for gaming worldwide. The hardware revenues for PC gaming include the PCs purchased by gamers and any peripheral component upgrades done in the year 2007. At $43 Billion this dwarfs the hardware revenues of competing gaming platforms by two-to-one.

 

[killer_PT]

E ainda alguns dizem que desvalorizam a plataforma PC.

 

[Pure Anarchy]

Mais um artigo interessante sobre a distribuição digital desta vez por parte da Capcom, que recentemente se juntou à PC Gaming Alliance.

RPS: Is digital distribution more important to the PC than retail?

Svensson: For me? Absolutely. No question in my mind. Digital distribution on PC ties directly into our strategy. Capcom is trying to lead in digital distribution, and I would go as far as to say that in the console space we are already the leading software publisher. We’ve had the highest revenue-generating Xbox Live title, we’ve had the highest revenue-generating Wii title, we’re definitely in the top three or four on the PlayStation network. To that end, on the PC side, I’ve spent the past year building up a digital distribution channel that has about twenty different partners. We’re ready on the console side, and we were the first Japanese publisher to do anything on Steam.

RPS: And would you say that increased digital sales presence is more important than increased PC presence at retail?
Svensson: In the current market, I would. We will probably do as much digital selling as retail in the current climate.