facebook rss twitter

PC games sales to eclipse value of console games sales in 2016

by Mark Tyson on 15 June 2015, 14:50

Tags: Valve

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacsae

Add to My Vault: x

PC gaming is going to get bigger than ever according to a new report by industry researchers PwC (via CNet). By the end of 2016 it is predicted that the value of PC games sold will eclipse the value of console games sold. This change has been many years in the making.

Looking at the figures from PwC, worldwide PC games sales are supposed to add up to $29 billion, while console games sales should reach $28 billion by the end of 2016. In terms of DLCs, PC users expected to vastly outspend console gamers at $21.8 billion compared to $2.4 billion. The market researchers say the spending differences will widen in favour of the PC over the next few years thanks in part to the PC-dominated gaming scenes in India and China. The growing e-sports trend also relies on PCs as the platform of choice.

PC games easily offer the most depth, configuration options and best audio/visual experience. If a gamer wants to play the best looking and performing version of a game they will usually choose to play the PC version. However some publishers are a bit stuck in the past and are still putting consoles first.

A year ago on HEXUS we noted that PC hardware sales revenue accounted for more than double that of the console gaming market. With the PC being at the cutting edge of hardware it can only get better if VR takes off. There are a number of competing platforms for VR, most of them will combine with the muscle of a modern PC to offer the fastest, slickest virtual reality experience to consumers.

CNet thinks that a major driver of PC success is the Steam games market and platform. With "three out of every four" PC games sold being via Steam now, it's hard to argue with that assertion. A timely report, published by MCV today, brings home the growth of Steam's popularity. It thinks that users have been spurred by the now traditional Summer Sale to go online buy and play more PC games than ever. On Sunday Steam broke through its previous record of 9.5m concurrent users to broach the 10m milestone.



HEXUS Forums :: 59 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
It only took billions of smartphones to make PC the (slightly, maybe) biggest gaming platform again.

I've seen a lot of sites running with this story over the last 48 hours….the funny thing is that it is based on projections and isn't true yet….
Meh like I care about them comparing apples to oranges, most long term players of the PC don't care about consoles.
But PC gamers should care about consoles and the potential for PC to gain majority in gaming market….why you ask? Because most publishing companies cater to console over PC and then PC gamers suffer with less optimized games that do not look as good as they could because of DEV teams having to make console priority. You also ha fee games that are only for certain platforms so all gamers suffer. If PC takes completely over for gaming purposes then all gamers will have a better overall experience.
Never have I heard so much crap.

PC gaming has, and always will be, pay to win. Console provide a flat playing field where everyone is equal.

That's why the PC is (and always will be) the casual platform.
well you can make a good enough gaming pc at the price of a console (monitor not included, like the console does not include a tv…) and you can get games way cheaper and free multiplayer… (really now? they pay for multi? How can that be?)

Also with steam you really don't have to know much about the pc to play a game, you open steam, buy game, download and install from steam, you play.