Entertainment
People are spending less time playing video games as mobile revenues shrink-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro
A new industry report shows that PC gaming is on the rise, but the mobile market has taken a downward turn in light of growing restrictions.
Helldivers 2 has been a big success on PC (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
A new industry report shows that PC gaming is on the rise, but the mobile market has taken a downward turn in light of growing restrictions.
Sony’s increasing focus on releasing PlayStation 5 exclusives on PC might be seen as a way to boost profits in the wake of declining console sales, but it’s also reflective of a growing PC market.
As published in an updated version of Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report for 2023, the overall games market generated $183.9 billion (£144.6 billion) in revenue last year, which represents a worryingly small 0.5% rise year-on-year.
While the PC gaming market only represents 22% of the total revenue, at $39.6 billion, it had the highest growth of any segment, rising 8.4% rise year-on-year. In comparison, console games, which make up 28% of the overall revenue, only went up by 0.3% to $52.4 billion.
Surprisingly, mobile gaming, which represents the biggest money maker, with 49% of the total market, went down by 2.1% year-on-year, to $89.9 billion. While this might suggest the mobile market is starting to stagnate, the report suggests restrictions by Apple and Google regarding monetisation as a potential reason for the downward trend.
As well as the limited market growth, Newzoo notes that playtime hours have dropped significantly. As shown in its early 2024 report, the average quarterly playtime has decreased by 26% since the first quarter in 2021 – which is clearly a result of lockdown ending.
Along with people playing more old games than ever, 90% of new game revenue in 2023 have come from just 43 games, with live service titles making up 59% of this amount, while premium titles accrued 32%.
The mobile slice of the pie has shrunken ever so slightly (Newzoo)
In a rather depressing statistic, 47% of new title revenue came from annual releases. Call Of Duty is at the top with 14%, followed by EA Sports FC with 10.8%, and NBA 2K with 10.4%. The others are Madden (6.8%) and MLB The Show (2.2%).
Despite the doom and gloom hanging over the future, Newzoo estimates games industry revenue will reach $207 billion in 2026, which is an upwards correction on their previous forecast. They also estimate a market growth of 6% year-on-year in 2025.
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Judging by this report, this growth will partially hinge on the rise of the PC market – as both Microsoft and Sony pivot towards multiplatform strategies. Nintendo’s next console, which is expected in 2025, will also likely have a significant impact on the console space.
Microsoft and Sony have both said they are looking to further expand into the mobile gaming space, which makes sense considering its been the dominat market for a while now.
Just recently, a Sony job listing called for a ‘mobile platform architect’, which sounds similar to Microsoft’s plans for its own rival mobile store to Apple and Google.
Helldivers 2 launched simulataneously on PC and PS5 (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
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