Newzoo: US gamers spent $25.3 billion last year

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Matthew DeCarlo

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According to research firm Newzoo, 183.5 million US gamers aged eight and up spent $25.3 billion on video games during 2009, most of which were for consoles. Sales for systems such as the Xbox 360 and PS3 made up 60% of the total (over $15 billion).

PC games claimed a distant second with 16% ($4.2b), online game portals made up 11% ($2.8b), MMOs claimed 8% ($2.1b), and mobile sales made up 4% ($1.1b) of the entire budget. Other countries in the survey shared a similar divide, except Germany, whose gamers spent 42% (€1.5b) of their dough on console titles and 36% (€1.3b) on PC games.


Interestingly, Newzoo found that 46% of US game revenue went toward used titles and online models, including subscriptions, virtual currency, microtransactions, and digital distribution -- that leaves 54% for freshly minted retail games. You can skim through the summary here (PDF) or pay €299 for the full report at GamesIndustry.com.

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Game portals and MMO's are also played on a PC for the most part, so I would assume that Game Portals and MMO's also fall into the PC gaming category. Which means spending for PC gaming as a whole for the US is closer to 35% instead of the proposed 16%.
 
Oh come on...kids 8 and up are part of the survey?? Seriously, how accurate to you think that's going to be?

There's only one sure-fire way to tell what's being spent on computer games and that's through sales figures. And gaming companies don't release sales figures. Period.

Add to this there are no Asian, Hispanic or southern hemisphere nations represented and I would hazard to guess this "survey" could be as much as 70% inaccurate as to actual computer/console game sales.

However, would be interesting to know why the Deutscher are into PC gaming a lot more than consoles.
 
Just think.. if they would do away with those ancient technology console garbage machines, PC games would be a staggering 90%+!!

BTW - 4+8+11+16+60 = 99%
 
I agree with Tom, I don't see this as being very accurate at all. To many private companies in the mix that don't release sales figures as well as major markets excluded.

TomSEA said:
However, would be interesting to know why the Deutscher are into PC gaming a lot more than consoles.

I grew up in Germany and that's where I got into PC gaming. Friends with good computers and knowledgeable tech parents definitely pulled me in, not to mention some awesome titles at the time. Maybe that's the reason?
 
Question, did this survey include monthly subscription plans for online games as well as games purchased online through clients such as Steam..if not then frankly Meh.
 
Hopefully some site somewhere will buy this report and provide more details. The summary is just meant to tease.

What I'm missing most is the breakup of the various consoles. The 60% figure is interesting, but what if 40% of that is Wii? Or what if each console is 20%? That puts the PC on more or less equal footing.

Regarding all detractors, I think that this is reasonably accurate. Certainly it would have been nicer to get sales figures, but I Tom's points are nitpicks. Would the far east figures have changed the sales division in the US in any way? Would limiting surveys from the age of 13 have been a markedly better choice?

As for bundling MMO's etc. with the PC, I think it would have been less informative. MMO's and online are a completely different market, and anyone who wants to make a decision about developing games for the PC would be ill served if all these were bundled together. (Just like console developers are ill served by all the consoles being bundled together).
 
... I would hazard to guess this "survey" could be as much as 70% inaccurate as to actual computer/console game sales.

Is that guess a solid 70%, or an estimated 70% ? because if it's a solid 70% guess then you could be as much as 90% right...but if it's an estimate wellllllll, it could be out by as much as 65%...although that would be a legit 65%.
 
It's interesting how they lump the 360, PS3, Wii, DS, and PSP into the console "platform" and pit it against the PC. That's not 2 distinct platforms, that's 6. 60% split 5 ways is 12%. It's more likely that the PC, 360, PS3 and Wii are about equal in percentage, but when you include MMOs and game portals, the balance is tipped overwhelmingly in the PC's favor. Probably something like:

33% PC
16% 360
16% PS3
16% Wii
9% DS
6% PSP
4% Mobile

Those are very unscientific approximations though.
 
hello ...

The PC remain the best & complete, (maybe most expensive to build but easier to repair), reliable gaming platform and multipurpose machine that ever existed, i'm on a PC for more than 10 hours / day ( work + home), even if nowadays i play more on my PS3, i still buy a lot of PC games... & have an impressive collection LOL!

I can ONLY see one thing, video game industry isn't what it's used to be, its competing with other entertainment model & can win the day...

cheers!
 
My kids use the box art for clothes, and ask exclusively for video games for their birthdays. They don't care if Mario is on their bottoms, as long as they're having fun playing games.
 
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