PC is dominant gaming platform globally

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), who are dedicated to evangelising the PC Gaming space, recently delivered their annual research which explores the growth of PC gaming worldwide.

According to PCGA, there are now over 1-billion PC gamers around the world, a number that easily dwarfs current-gen console sales numbers.

Wii U is forecast to have sold 4-million consoles by March 2013. As of June 2012 Wii had sold 96.56 million units. In December 2012, PS3 system shipments hit approximately 77 million, and Xbox 360 is reported at approximately 76 million units shipped.

The PC gaming market has seen strong momentum over the last 12 months, even with the a new focus shifting to online and mobile gaming, the new report has shown.

“The PC Gaming industry showed strong overall growth of 8% in 2012, partly as a result of the Chinese market gaining traction in the $20 billion global market with record revenues of $6.8 billion,” said DFC analyst David Cole. “In spite of media focus on mobile games and struggling social network games, there are now over 1 billion PC gamers worldwide and that number will continue to grow as more PCs connect online. The ‘PCGA Pinnacle Report for Software’ describes this in close detail.”

The PC Gaming Alliance’s report saw strong growth for PC gaming in 2012.

The group also explained that many improvements have been made to the PC Gaming Certification and Logo Program, but knows there’s more to achieve.

“Because market conditions change, the PCGA certification program will remain under continual development to address specific industry challenges. Retail boxes are disappearing, and recommended system requirements often confuse consumers more than they help,” said Matt Ployhar, PCGA President and analyst at Intel.

“Consumers are now faced with the daunting task of determining if their new Tablets and All-in-Ones (AiO) are x86 based, will they support DirectX, OpenGL and/or WebGL, and the various operating systems their favorite PC game will play? PCGA members will be the force for good that will define, develop and deploy the next generation of certifications to help and assist Developers and Consumers alike to navigate these issues.”

The PCGA Pinnacle Report: Software 2012 also revealed a number of interesting stats regarding the state of PC gaming:

The global PC gaming software market continues to show strong growth in 2012, reaching a record US$20 billion – overall growth of 8 percent over 2011 and 90 percent growth since the PCGA’s first report in 2008.
China continues to be the largest and fastest growing market for PC games with record 2012 revenue of US$6.8 billion, a growth of percent. Mature game markets in Korea, Japan, U.S., U.K. and Germany all showed growth in 2012. Together these markets also increased revenue by percent in 2012, to $8.4 billion.
There are over 1 billion PC gamers worldwide and that number is continuing to grow as more PCs are connected online. Over 250 million of those gamers play what are defined as “core games.”
The growth of mobile is helping the PC game business. The combination of mobile and PC as platforms is helping drive the growth of small self-funded teams that can develop more targeted products on a modest budget.
The PC game business will continue to grow at a pace of 6 percent CAGR to $25.7 billion by 2016. This growth is driven by growing access to broadband connections and the increasing ease of digital distribution delivery solutions and payment methods on a global basis.