GDC 2012: PC game market grows 15 per cent

March 7th, 2012, 23:00 Posted By: wraggster

The global PC gaming market grew by 15 per cent last year to a record $18.6 billion, according to the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA).
The figure comes from the PCGA's annual Horizons report, released to coincide with the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
2011 saw explosive growth in free-to-play, and not just from MMOGs ditching subscriptions in favour of microtransactions. The PCGA notes that Zynga brought in $1.1 billion in revenue, and along with Nexon, enjoyed a successful stock market IPO. Bigpoint, the German browser MMOG company which yesterday announced plans to expand to London and Paris, brought in $350 million.
None of the territories included in the PCGA's research saw declines, with the Chinese market growing by 27 per cent, accounting for $6 billion of the total. Asia remains the biggest investor in PC gaming, with Tencent's majority acquisition of Riot Games for $400 million a highlight. The PCGA believes that Tencent's full-year figures, which have yet to be announced, will see it replace Activision as the highest-grossing PC game company.
PCGA president Matt Ployhar said: "The PC gaming juggernaut continues unabated, across the industry and geographic boundaries. 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."
The Alliance forecasts that the market will maintain its upward trajectory, rising 37 per cent to around $25.5 billion by 2015, as broadband speeds, digital distribution services and payment systems continue to improve.

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