Newzoo: PC & Console Markets in 2023

Mar 21, 2023

Main trends

PC & Console market is changing, but its results are higher than Newzoo forecasted before.
More AA and AAA games will transform to live-service experiences. This means there will be fewer new games and their lifecycle will be longer.
The supply of semiconductors is back, so PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X will actively increase their market share.
The in-game advertising will come to PC & Consoles. But it will be designed in a less destructive way than on Mobile.

$92.3B is the overall revenue of the PC & Consoles market in 2022. The decline is 2.2% compared to the previous year.

$51.8B is the size of the Console market (-4.2% YoY); $38.2B is the size of the PC market (+1.8% YoY); browser games got $2.3B in 2022 (-16.7% YoY).
The North American market is the main one for PC and Consoles, its size is $31.2B (-4.2% YoY). The leader of the region (and not only) is the US with a $29B market size.

APAC region PC/Console revenue in 2022 was $30.2B (-0.2% YoY). The region behemoth is China with $15.2B.
The size of the European PC/Console market is $24.3B (-2.9% YoY); LATAM generated $4.2B (+0.7% YoY); MENA - $2.5B (+2.9% YoY).
The CAGR of the PC/Console market from 2015 to 2022 was 5.8%. The PC market grew by 3.6% yearly and the console had a growth rate of 7.8% annually.

Only 1 game released in 2022 on PC was at the overall top by MAU 2022 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Warzone 2.0). There are no releases from 2021 as well.

Shooters, Adventures, and Battle Royale are the most popular genres on PC & Consoles.

Console players are more tend to make in-app purchases. They’re buying content, doing micropurchases, and using subscriptions. On Consoles 48% of overall revenue are generated through such kind of payments; PC has 39% of revenue on this.

13 out of 20 top games of 2022 on consoles were F2P. On PC there were 12 games out of 20 using the free-to-play model.

Three large games in 2022 switched the Premium model to the F2P - Overwatch 2, Fall Guys, and The Sims 4.
Transmedia marketing strategy works. Cyberpunk’s 2077 MAU increased by 249% after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners release.

There is a direct correlation between games’ popularity on streaming platforms and DAU. But it’s working for the AAA releases only.
66% of the audience on PC & Console are spending money on games.

40% of the PC/Console audience are identifying themselves as women.
66% of all gamers have been playing on PC or consoles in the last half a year.
40% of PC/Console gamers think of themselves as hardcore gamers.
75% of PC/Console gamers are not only playing games but watching streams, discussing new releases, etc.

7 out of 10 gamers on PC and Consoles have been playing on other devices in the last half a year.
66% of gamers are still not very aware of Cloud Gaming.

The Console market will grow by 9%; the PC - by 1%.
Postponed releases from 2022 will be launched in 2023, which will stimulate the consumer’s spending.