With the rise of home consoles and lack of PC exclusivity these days, many gamers have been led to assume that computer gaming is on the downfall and at risk of being eventually rendered irrelevant. However, a new study by the PC Gaming Alliance shows that the exact opposite is happening, as the PC gaming market experienced a 15 percent growth year-over-year in 2011 and reached a record $18.5 billion.
Not a single region experienced a decline last year, with China seeing the most growth at 27 percent and representing $6 billion of the market. Meanwhile, the “mature game” PC market in Korea, Japan, Germany, US, and UK increased by a combined 11 percent and made $8 billion.
Though a lot of credit for the upward swing was given to free-to-play games, there was also recognition given to the rise of digital distribution and a handful of big-budget titles. Those named in the report by the PCGA were Star Wars: The Old Republic, Battlefield 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Rift, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
“The PC gaming juggernaut continues unabated, across the industry and geographic boundaries,” said PCGA President Matt Ployhar. “While reports of gaming sales at retail show signs of struggle, the impact hasn’t been as great for PC gaming, which had an earlier adoption of newer formats, business models and delivery. Not only investment dollars, but real revenue and profits, are now being generated solely from purely digital business models, formats, and delivery.”
According to the non-profit organization, the PC gaming market isn’t done with its ascent just yet. The PCGA has forecast another 37 percent increase by 2015 to $25.5 billion thanks to the improvement of broadband speeds, digital distribution services, and payment systems.
