The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) announced that it has published its sixth Annual PCGA Pinnacle Report.
For more information vista: www.pcgamingalliance.org
Unedited press release follows:
PCGA Member Exclusive “Annual Pinnacle Report 2013” Reports 18% Growth Reaching a Record $23.5 billion
PC game software market will reach $32 billion by 2017 and is expected to remain larger than both console game software and traditional mobile game markets
SAN FRANCISCO — The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to driving the worldwide growth of PC gaming, is pleased to announce that this week they delivered their sixth “Annual PCGA Pinnacle Report,” custom research exclusive to PCGA members; and that they shared portions of these reports today at a subsequent news conference. In private sessions on Tuesday, the PCGA Board of Directors and PCGA Members met with market research firms DFC Intelligence and JPR Research for a preliminary examination of the contents of the report, featuring the work of these two highly-respected analyst firms.
Released yearly at GDC, the PCGA Pinnacle Report enables PCGA members to better target their products and product lifecycles. The ‘PCGA Pinnacle Report for Software’ by DFC Intelligence and the ‘PCGA Pinnacle Report for Hardware’ by JPR both cover the 2013 year end, and provide forecasts on all major aspects of the PC gaming industry worldwide through 2017. The reports cover all facets of gaming software and hardware, including player spending habits, replacement cycles, and system preferences; and examines which markets will be most profitable in the coming years. While full reports are only released to PCGA members, after an initial review period the PCGA members will share some of the findings with the public in a subsequent announcement.
Matt Ployhar, PCGA president and Intel analyst, gives his take on the findings in the reports: “From the user perspective, console processors are still less optimized for a variety of applications than PC architecture; still behind PCs in terms of complexity, power consumption and overall features; and are still difficult or impossible to customize. While there is no denying consoles have improved on performance, the best console still offers roughly the same power of previous-gen graphics cards. From the industry’s perspective, not only does innovation of PC hardware architecture continue to rapidly outpace that of consoles enabling the more compelling user experience that drives sales, but they see games continue to gain market share over all other forms of entertainment, and are witnessing the Free-to-Play business model continue to disrupt traditional monetization models such as retail, by easily tapping into the massive installed base of PC devices globally.”
DFC Intelligence Key Discoveries
The global PC games market continued to show remarkably strong growth in 2013, reaching a record $23.5 billion. This represented overall growth of 18% over 2012. Surprisingly, no geographical market segments tracked showed a decline during 2013 in overall PC game revenue.
The DFC report forecasts that the PC game software market will reach $26 billion in 2014 and will grow to $32 billion by 2017. This PC game segment is expected to remain larger than both the console game software and mobile device game markets. The forecasted growth for 2014 and beyond is attributed to the many large PC game releases in the pipeline, unlike 2013 which saw none. In addition, the emergence of crowd sourced-funded projects has led to an explosion of PC-only titles; from high-stylized AAA efforts, to low-budget indie homages to games of yesteryear. And surprisingly the launch of new console systems is expected to drive growth for PC games.
“There were few major game releases in 2013, leading us to anticipate that revenue would be somewhat flat to down in many markets; however the market in China grew beyond expectations, and on a global basis major free-to-play games like League of Legends, Dota 2 and World of Tanks turned out to be consistent revenue generators,” said David Cole, DFC CEO and principal analyst. “We see developers once again creating big budget games for console platforms; however, the comparatively small installed base of the new console systems means the majority of new AAA titles will also come out for PC.”
JPR Jon Peddie Research Key Discoveries
JPR reports that the consumer’s desire for portability, expressed in the rise of notebook sales prior to the introduction of the tablet, and then the explosive growth of the tablet, which cannibalized the low-end PC market. This desire will now be met by x86-Windows based tablets up to 12-inches, and All-in-One PCs from 15 to 27-inches. These battery powered units will provide portability as well as a complete, and powerful, gaming experience. Unlike a console which is lauded for its low cost, All-in-Ones will be close to the same price, and include the display, whereas a console requires an external TV.
Secondarily, with the new architectures of consoles being an x86 PC, game developers no longer have to design for four platforms and can now concentrate on just one. That will save them development tools cost, time to market, and result in more games and better games for the PC and the consoles.
“The PC gaming story gets even better when you consider that PCs are increasingly scaling towards a variety of other Operating Systems,” said Dr. Jon Peddie, president of the Tiburon CA based market research firm Jon Peddie Research. “In addition to this, we’re seeing additional convergence and a blurring of the lines in capabilities between traditional PC form factors such as Desktops, All in Ones, and Laptops; towards the newer SmartPhones, and Tablets devices. Amazing times indeed!”
About the PCGA
The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to drive the continued growth of gaming on Personal Computers. Since 2009, the PCGA has provided an open business-to-business forum where companies cooperate to develop and promote solutions that drive the PC gaming industry forward and ensure that the PC remains the ultimate gaming platform. Our members are enabled to make an easier entry into new markets, to engage in excellent networking opportunities and to take advantage of customized and exclusive research from the industry’s best independent analysts. Members work together in subcommittees to solve a variety of issues that affect consumers and industry alike. Additional information about the PCGA and its role as the voice of the PC gaming industry is available at www.pcgamingalliance.org
PCGA and PC GAMING ALLIANCE are trademarks of the PCGA Inc. All other product names, trademarks, and/or company names are used solely for identification and belong to their respective owners.
About DFC Intelligence
DFC Intelligence (http://www.dfcint.com) is a strategic market research and consulting firm focused on interactive entertainment and the emerging video game, online game, interactive entertainment and portable game markets. Since 1995, DFC has published in-depth strategic market reports and subscription-based research services. DFC research is used by more than 300 leading companies in over 30 countries worldwide.
About JPR
Jon Peddie Research is a technically oriented marketing, research, and management consulting firm. Based in Tiburon, California, JPR provides specialized services to companies in high-tech fields including graphics hardware development, multimedia for professional applications and consumer electronics, entertainment technology, high-end computing, and Internet access product development.