PC/Console Gaming Market Slows Down by 2.2% in 2022, But Newzoo Reckons 2023 Will Be a Strong Growth Year
In 2022, the gaming market for PC and consoles slowed down after two incredibly successful years (especially 2021) fueled by all the lockdowns caused by the COVID pandemic.
Leading gaming market research firm Newzoo estimates in its newest report that PC and console games earned $92.3 billion in revenue last year, a 2.2% decline over 2021. This is mostly due to the console gaming market, which declined by 4.2%, while the PC games market for premium games actually grew by 1.8%. According to Newzoo, there were 1.1 billion PC gamers and 611 million console gamers last year.
The average playtime of PC and console users also decreased by 23% in 2022 compared to 2021. That said, the analysts underline that this isn't a negative record; the playtime has simply gone back to pre-pandemic levels. Moreover, major delayed games like Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (now due to hit Nintendo Switch on May 12th) and Bethesda's Starfield (scheduled to be released for PC and Xbox Series S|X on September 6th) impacted both playtime and spending in 2022.
Even with this decrease, over 100 billion hours were spent playing PC and console games in 2022. An average of 15 games were played per player on each platform, and the average spend in the US market on each platform was $200.
Newzoo also reminds everyone that the PC and console markets still registered a 5.8% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2015 to 2022.
In fact, going back to their pre-pandemic forecasts for 2020-2022, the gaming market went much better in these three years than originally estimated by Newzoo; the total revenue is $32.8 billion higher.
In 2022, the geographical split between countries and continents remained largely the same. Combined, the United
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