Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: January 1 - January 5 (2024)
VGI shared the PC (Steam) insights of 2023; Monopoly GO! managed to become the largest game by revenue in December 2023; more than 10.5k people lost their jobs in 2023.
Reports of this week:
Game Industry Layoffs: 10,526 people lost their jobs in the gaming industry in 2023
TIGA: The UK game studios lack qualified employees
AppMagic: Top Mobile games of December 2023 by Revenue and Downloads
Visual Capitalist: 50 Years of Video Game Revenue
SteamDB: In 2023, 14,533 games were released on Steam
GfK: For the first time in a decade, FIFA (EA Sports FC) did not become the largest physical release in the UK
Video Game Insights: State of the PC games (Steam) market in 2023
Game Industry Layoffs: 10,526 people lost their jobs in the gaming industry in 2023
Game Industry Layoffs provide approximate figures. The information is gathered from open sources, and the numbers are likely even higher.
The highest number of people were laid off in November 2023 - 2,775 individuals.
The leaders in layoffs in 2023 were Unity (1,165 people), ByteDance (1,000 people), Embracer Group (962 people), Epic Games (830 people), and Amazon (715 people).
A total of 162 rounds of layoffs were publicly announced throughout the year.
TIGA: The UK game studios lack qualified employees
The report was released in mid-November 2023.
68% of British studios faced hiring problems in the last year. The most significant issues were with programmers (24%), but there were also difficulties in finding artists (22%) and game designers (22%).
Among the studios that encountered hiring problems, 93% noted that there is simply a shortage of people with the required qualifications in the market. 47% mentioned that they suffer from the headhunting of their best employees.
The shortage of employees affects productivity. 59% of studios noted that it hinders their growth. The same percentage said that the lack of personnel forces them to postpone project releases. 73% mentioned that the workload on the existing staff has increased. 64% were compelled to outsource more work.
British companies are trying to address the challenge. 91% have made internal promotions to fill necessary vacancies. 90% have tried new hiring methods. 81% have increased salaries. The same percentage of companies improved training programs for current employees.
All British game companies reported providing training programs for their employees.
AppMagic: Top Mobile games of December 2023 by Revenue and Downloads
AppMagic provides data on revenue excluding store commissions and taxes.
Revenue
Monopoly GO! took the top spot in revenue. The game earned $130M in December after deductions.
Honor of Kings secured the second position with $108.9M, followed by PUBG Mobile in third place with $98.8M.
Honkai: Star Rail claimed the 9th position in the December chart with revenue of $51.2M. The game rose by 6 positions compared to November.
Impressive results also for Clash of Clans. The Supercell game closes the top ten highest-earning projects of December with revenue of $47.1M. In November, the game was in the 23rd position.
Downloads
Outlets Rush - a new hit from Supercent. The game received 18.5 million downloads in December. It is a tycoon game where players manage a clothing store.
Otherwise, there are no changes. Roblox is in the first position (20.8 million downloads); Subway Surfers is in the second position (19.3 million); Block Blast! is in the third position (18.9 million downloads).
Visual Capitalist: 50 Years of Video Game Revenue
SteamDB: In 2023, 14,533 games were released on Steam
This is the record-breaking year for the entire observation period.
In October 2023, 1,324 games were released. This is a record-breaking month for the entire observation period.
In 2023, 12,562 games were released, compared to 11,389 in 2021.
The number of new games on Steam started to increase after the introduction of Steam Greenlight. Steam Direct further accelerated the growth by allowing developers to simply purchase a slot for releasing a game.
GfK: For the first time in a decade, FIFA (EA Sports FC) did not become the largest physical release in the UK
Hogwarts Legacy is the best-selling boxed game in the UK in 2023. More than half of the sales were for the PS5 version, with the second most popular platform being the PS4.
The last time FIFA was surpassed in retail sales was by Grand Theft Auto V in 2013.
In 2023, 12.76 million copies of games were sold at retail in the UK. This is 5% less compared to 2022, but it doesn't necessarily indicate a market decline. It's more likely that more people were purchasing digital versions.
Video Game Insights: State of the PC games (Steam) market in 2023
2023 was a record year for Steam. Games worth $9 billion were sold (excluding microtransactions). This accounts for more than 580 million copies, with almost 14 thousand games released. The platform's peak concurrent users (CCU) exceeded 33.6 million.
In 2023, 61% of Steam's total revenue from sales was distributed among the top 10 games (that were released in 2023). This is the highest figure since 2016.
In 2023, the top 100 launched games on Steam (in 2023) generated 91% of the total revenue (from games released in 2023).
Game sales on Steam grew by 17.8% in 2023 compared to the previous year. The platform size in 2023 is twice as large as it was in 2019.
Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, Lethal Company, Sons of the Forest, and Starfield - leaders on Steam in terms of the number of copies sold (I’ve excluded free games).
Baldur’s Gate 3 ($657M), Hogwarts Legacy ($341M), Starfield ($235M), Resident Evil 4 ($159M), and Sons of the Forest ($116M) - leaders on Steam in terms of revenue from sales.
Interestingly, only 2 free games are in the top list on Steam in terms of the number of copies - Overwatch 2 and The Finals.
In 2023, only 6 out of the top 24 games on Steam had microtransactions. This is the lowest figure since 2018. Although the share of microtransactions in games with sales exceeding $100 thousand is growing - in 2023, they were present in 20% of projects.
RPG and adventure games grew on Steam in 2023, while MMOs, simulators, and casual projects lost their positions.
The number of games on Steam continues to grow each year. In 2023, 12.6% more games were released than in 2022.
Out of almost 14 thousand released games, only 930 earned more than $1 million in sales. 157 games earned more than $10 million, and only 20 surpassed the $50 million mark.
Out of 14 thousand projects, 309 are free.
The average price per copy of a game sold on Steam in 2023 was $15.5. And it is increasing every year.
Future Forecast
VGI predicts that in 2024, revenue on Steam will decrease by 2.5% to $8.8 billion. This is due to fewer releases, an increase in the share of consoles, and the growing presence of subscription services in the market.
It is expected that the number of copies sold on Steam will reach the 2023 results only in 2026. There will be a slight decline in 2024 and 2025.
The average price per sold copy on Steam will increase to $18.1 by 2028.
VGI expects that revenue from game sales on Steam will grow to $11.5 billion by 2028.