While PCs have always been the number one choice for serious gamers, gaming consoles have also grown their global user base immensely over the past decade. Still, the positive momentum in the market is fading, with revenues growing much slower than in previous years.
According to data presented by SportsLens.com, the global console gaming industry is projected to be worth $61bn by 2026, showing a modest 1.6% growth in three years.
Add-On Content and Subscription Revenues to Jump by Over 20%, Hardware, and Software Sales to Continue Falling
The year 2022 brought quite a shock for the console gaming segment. After two years of impressive sales figures and double-digit growth rates, global console gaming revenues dropped by 14% year-over-year to $55bn, down from $64bn a year before that.
And while the market is stabilizing after the pandemic-fuelled growth in 2020 and 2021, the IDG survey shows three of the five market segments will continue declining in the next three years. In 2023, the entire console gaming industry is expected to gross $60bn in revenue, 9% more than last year, primarily due to the growth of subscription and add-on content revenues. IDG expects console subscriptions to bring in $10bn this year, 25% more than a year ago. Digital add-on content revenues will see the same two-digit growth rate and jump from $12bn to $15bn. Hardware sales are projected to grow by 11% and hit $19bn this year.
On the other hand, software and digital full game segments will see an 11% decline, with revenues falling from $9bn to $8bn.
IDG expects add-on content and subscription revenues to grow by more than 20% in the following years and hit $19bn and $12bn by 2026. Console hardware sales are projected to drop by 10% to $17bn in the next three years, while the annual software sales will tumble by 25% and fall to $6bn.
Digital Add-On Content to Become the Largest Revenue Stream of the Console Gaming Industry
The global decline in console hardware sales and the surging use of add-on content will bring some significant changes in the total revenue share. Hardware sales will make up more than 30% of global console gaming industry revenue this year. Digital add-on content is the second-largest segment, with a 25% share, while subscriptions comprise another 16% of total revenue.
Still, the IDG survey showed digital add-on content will become the market`s largest revenue stream, bringing 31% of total revenue by 2026. Hardware sales revenue share is expected to drop to 28% in the next three years.
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