Newzoo research points to “more modest growth” in the industry and confirms market slowdown

The Gaming Era website reported today that, according to the European company Newzoo, revenues from the gaming market for consoles and personal computers (PCs) grew 2.6% in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching US$93.5 billion. And the time gamers spent gaming has fallen by 26% since the peak reached during the pandemic.

And 80% of that time is spent on just 66 games. The PC & Console Gaming Report 2024 report was released to the public this Tuesday (2) and presented during the Game Developer Conference, GDC.

Of the total, 43% corresponds to the PC gaming market, or US$40.4 billion, while US$53.1 billion (57%) is in the console market. Despite this, PCs’ slice of the pie grew more: 3.9% versus 1.7% for consoles.

For Tom Wijman, lead analyst at Newzoo who signed the opening text of the report, the drop in game time recorded by the study indicates “more eyes and money in the hands of a few games and studios”. In other words, there was a reduction, although the entity remains optimistic about this market.

Newzoo data confirms Drops de Games report on ABRAGAMES research

O Game Drops published a series of reports on problems in ABRAGAMES’ annual survey on the game development industry. In one of the responses from Rodrigo Terra, president of the association, an excerpt caught my attention:

In other words, we are living in a unique moment, which does not mean that growth is directly related to layoffs or slowdown, as stated in the article published by Drops de Jogo. It is worth emphasizing that there is an analysis of the state of the market environment itself, but the numbers are not directly proportional. So, this link between the growth in studio revenue and layoffs is not directly related, but tied to other factors, such as the financial health of the company itself or the need to reduce headcount to maintain growth and revenue.

Newzoo is often criticized for offering total data without detailing its research. It is also research that must be criticized. But apparently ABRAGAMES did not understand that the entire market is seeing a slowdown. It is a mathematical question that does not allow for subjectivity.

The games market continues to be fascinating and necessary. But no one gains anything by avoiding certain words. A crisis does not cease to exist if you erase the word crisis.

Newzoo Search. Photo: Reproduction

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