The PC Gaming Alliance have released some figures ahead of their GDC report, showing that the PC gaming market grew by 20% from 2009 to 2010, taking $16.2 billion in revenue. The report also predicts that the PC games market will continue to grow, and could hit profits of $23 billion in a few years time.
The figures come from the PC Gaming Alliance's annual Horizon report, put together by market research company DFC Intelligence to assess the strength of the PC market. They pick out China as the fastest growing market for PC gaming, producing a whopping $4.8 billion in revenue last year. PC games sales in Korea, Japan, US, UK and Germany also grew by 19%, making $7.3 in profits in 2010.
Digital distribution is the reason given for the explosion in growth. Selling digitally bypasses the cut taken by high street retailers, allowing developers and publishers to take more direct profits. The report says that the PC gaming market will continue to grow, driven by digital distribution, and could be worth $23 billion by 2014. the report also predicts that Steam will face tough competition from other contenders in the near future.
Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.
