New knowledge exhibits gaming income has moved virtually solely to digital purchases, at the very least in Europe, with PC and console purchases dwarfed by cellular gaming. The 2024 All About Video Games report, printed earlier this month by Video Games Europe, confirmed sluggish development for PC gaming within the EU and signaled the loss of life knell for bodily recreation gross sales.
According to the report, gaming income total grew 4% in 2024. An overwhelming 90% of that income was digital, up 5% from 2023 and bringing bodily purchases down to only 10%.
For context, physical purchases made up 20% of European gaming revenue in 2020, that means bodily recreation gross sales have been minimize in half in simply 4 years, together with a 5% drop within the final yr alone. However, it is arduous to say whether or not that decline is going on as a result of avid gamers simply choose digital copies or as a result of fewer video games are getting launched in bodily format.
The shift may be partly because of the gadgets individuals are enjoying on. The 2024 All About Video Games report confirmed that cellular gaming accounted for the biggest chunk of income at 44%, adopted by a 38% share for console purchases. PC made up simply 15% of gaming income in Europe final yr, up 1% from 2023. (The remaining 4% was or on-demand/streaming companies.)
The gradual development in PC gaming income could also be as a result of a 3% drop within the proportion of PC avid gamers in Europe. In 2023, 46% of avid gamers reported enjoying on PC, now down to only 43% in 2024. Meanwhile, console purchases decreased by 3%, regardless of a 3% improve within the variety of Europeans saying they play on consoles.
Basically, PC gaming income is up regardless of fewer folks enjoying on PC whereas, in the other way, console income is down regardless of extra folks enjoying on consoles. The dip in console income could have contributed to 2024’s slip in bodily recreation gross sales, as nicely.
In addition to income knowledge, the All About Video Games report highlighted final yr’s top-selling video games in Europe: Helldivers 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Command and Conquer Generals, GTA 5, EA FC 25, The Crew 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, EA FC 24, and Command and Conquer (Bundle). Helldivers 2 and Black Ops 6 additionally took prime spots in Steam’s 2024 top sellers rankings.
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