The PC Gaming Alliance, a sort of pro-PC gaming lobby consisting of hardware manufactures and few game companies, released what they call the Horizon Report today, for 2008. In the report, the state of PC gaming is investigated, and sales are measured.
The major conclusion drawn in the report is that PC gaming is in great shape, and growing at a very healthy rate. They peg gaming software revenue as gaining 18% in 2008 over 2007. In 2008, this revenue was worth about $13 billion dollars. On the hardware side of things, the situation is even better -- at least in 2008 anyways, before the whole global economic collapse thing happened. In 2008, there was an estimated 228 million game-ready PCs in the world, with this number expected to surge to over 600 million by 2013.
The PC Gaming Alliance measured game revenue from store sales, digital sales, things like subscription fees for games, and online advertising.
“We are excited about the continued growth in online PC gaming,” said Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance. “The downturn in the economy has driven people to play more at home and online. The PC platform enables ongoing innovation with many new exciting games launching with online alternatives to retail that are attracting large audiences," said a press release.
The Alliance also found that the fastest growth is in -- surprise, surprise -- China, and that digital delivery services are expected to grow far faster than PC game box sales.
