In 2007 Online Gaming accounted for almost half of PC gaming revenue.
In an industry raking in over $10.7 billion, almost two thirds of the revenue came from online gaming and digital distribution. Sales off the shelf accounted for $2 billion and advertising revenues came in at $800 million. In the first "Horizons" report completed exclusively for PC Gaming Alliance, the numbers seem to confirm why PC titles are shoved to the back shelves of local game stores. Apparently PC gamers rent and buy online - they rent their online titles like MMOs and they buy the digital versions of games for direct download. Some of the interesting portions of the report discussion:
"According to the report, growth was largely driven by online revenues from Asia, the worlds largest market, which is approaching half of total worldwide sales."
That is not surprising in its volume but it is surprising in the value. I've heard of the quantity of Asian based players, but the amount of money they spend seems to be significantly higher than anticipated.
"Broadband-connected PCs are the key driver of growth for PC gaming. DFC Intelligence estimated that by the end of 2007 less than one-third of households in the top 20 markets for games had a high-speed Internet connection. That clearly indicates that there is still plenty of growth to come."
This seems odd at first glance because most of the gaming nations are much more connected. Developing gaming countries are definitely an underserved market, and I guess there are a lot of them. I don't completely understand this one, maybe food and water are higher on their priority list?
The key findings will be discussed at the upcoming NVISION 08 in San Francisco on August 25th. Read more about the Horizon's report on Kotaku, and the PC Gaming Alliance.
