We are expecting there to be 1.2 billion gamers in the world by the end of the of this year.
With the human population on the planet hitting 7 billion as of 2011, that means we have roughly 14% of the earth’s population playing video games on a console, PC or mobile device! According to Newzoo, we should also be expecting a $70.4 billion revenue increase this year which is a 6% increase over the last year. $22.8 Billion of that came from North America alone!
Also, some of the most surprising stuff comes from when we actually look at the details of the market and see where all that money is spent. Here are two info-graphics showing us the break down:
Some highlights:
- 68% of the market is based out of North America and Asia-Pacific
- Console Games bring in 43%
- MMOs make an extra 21%
- Casual games only rake in about 9%
These are all big points of interest but the biggest for me is this:
PC players make up 39% of the market!
Sure, 36% of the market is the console gamers but when you think about this for a moment. The amount of piracy going on with the PC world and the blame PC gamers put on console gamers for holding gaming tech back… PC Gamers put the most money into gaming.
I bet with further research you would find half of that money comes from Steam Sales and Humble Bundles. Regardless, this is interesting and makes me wonder why so much focus SEEMS to be on mobile games and the casual crowd when the casual market is actually so small!
I am also curious how crowd funding and free to play games work into those equations…
For anyone curious, Newzoo is actually a market research and consulting firm dedicated to games industry. Newzoo compiles data and does research on tons of topics ranging from MMO market reports to revenue reports like the one above.
Tons of their info is free, but some of the deeper stuff you have to pay for. Check them out as they have lots of nifty charts and statistics that will get some people really going.
