The PCGA (PC Gaming Alliance), a nonprofit group that monitors the PC gaming industry, has announced the results of two separate reports — delivered yesterday in San Francisco — that were prepared by the market research firms DFC Intelligence and JPR Research regarding said industry. The studies involved the habits of the PC gaming market from 2012-2016 and focused on facets such as the evolution of hardware and software, spending habits among PC gamers, regularity of hardware replacements, and system popularity amongst gamers.
The upshot of all this is that the PC gaming market is doing well for itself. According to an analyst at DFC Intelligence, David Cole, the industry showed a growth rate of eight percent in 2012 — which was due partly to an increasing foothold in China — and also made earnings of $6.8 billion in the same year. This growth, while impressive, is just a stopping point on the way to future gains.
“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,” Cole remarked.
This optimistic tone was reinforced by a statement from Erik Noreke, who holds the post of executive director of the PCGA. Noreke said that the PCGA is “experiencing a shift in the gaming industry.”
He went on to state that “the power of the latest portable PC hardware is allowing gamers for the first time to bring the full gaming experience with them on the road. They are no longer confined to their home for gameplay. The traditional desktop is no longer the gaming platform of choice as we are seeing more and more laptops with powerful GPUs and high end audio systems. PC gaming is going mobile.”
For more information on the PCGA, please visit their website, which can be accessed through the source link below.
