The PC market will be responsible for most of the growth made by the digital games industry this year. Software revenues, says Juniper Research, will top $80 billion, growing to $104 billion by the end of 2018. The PC market will account for 42% of games revenues in 2015.
Despite the popularity of PC gaming, mobile platforms will continue to increase their share of the market – approaching 35% by 2020. Software revenues from this segment, driven by consumer uptake and software purchases from new games consoles, are expected to reach $27 billion by 2018, up from $21 billion this year.
Juniper believes that the console industry will continue to evolve, in order to take advantage of new technologies and opportunities. Report author Lauren Foye said, “Newly emerging technologies such as virtual reality will aid in consumer adoption, as the console continues to evolve to become the core home entertainment centre”. Cross-platform integration will also be a crucial addition to the market. An example can be seen with Microsoft’s plan to upgrade all Xbox One consoles to Windows 10 this November, enabling certain games to be played with PC gamers.
Juniper also forecasts that the trend for ‘freemium’ games (funded by in-app purchases) will continue. Mobile and tablet revenues will approach 35% of total game revenues by 2020.
