The PC game market has many titles that have gained popularity through live game distribution and other means, and many games have been hits for a long time.
The market is already so large that it should be compared to the consumer market, and it is expected to continue to grow in size.
The PC game market is expanding its market size year by year
As an emerging force in the game market, the PC game market has quickly expanded in size since the 2010s.
In 2023, the PC game market as a whole will expand 3.9% year-on-year. Compared to the 1.7% year-on-year increase in the consumer market in the same year, this is almost double the expansion of the PC game market.
Looking at the overall game market, the PC game market is almost the same size as the consumer game market, each accounting for about 20-25% of the total (the rest is almost entirely the mobile game market). The mobile game market accounts for the majority of sales, followed by the consumer and PC game markets.
In Japan in particular, the market has expanded dramatically in recent years due to the popularity of games such as “Fortnite” and “Vallorant. The number of PC game players, especially among the younger generation, continues to increase.
One reason behind this is that PC games are easier to play for those who already own a PC, rather than for consumers who need to go to the trouble of purchasing dedicated hardware. Another reason is that many game distributors, including Vtubers, often distribute PC games, and many users start playing games because they admire them.
In the past, PCs were not widely used in households, and their specifications were not as good as today's, making them unsuitable for game play. However, these problems have now been solved, and there is little reason for the younger generation to purchase dedicated hardware.
In addition, in recent years, it is not unusual for game companies that have been active in the consumer market to release PC versions of their games. In the past, a certain level of knowledge was required to play PC games, but today, platforms such as Steam have become widespread, lowering the bar for getting started. As a result, there are many players whose first experience with a game is a PC game.
