PC gamers are spending more on paid features than on games themselves
The latest report, '
PC Players Spend More On Microtransactions Than Actual Games
https://kotaku.com/pc-gaming-microtransactions-elden-ring-borderlands-4-1851775837
The PC & Console Gaming Report 2025 is a report that analyzes and predicts trends and developments in the gaming market through 2027. The report covers markets in 100 countries and has a track record of being compiled for over 15 years.
The graph below summarizes software sales for PCs and consoles (home gaming consoles) from 2015 to 2027. Note that data from 2024 onwards is Newzoo's forecast. The market size has been growing almost every year, and it is predicted that sales will finally exceed $90 billion (approximately 12.9 trillion yen) in 2027 to reach $92.7 billion (approximately 13.3 trillion yen). Market growth from 2024 onwards is expected to be more for consoles (+7.0%) than for PCs (+2.6%).
The breakdown of PC software sales in 2024 is as follows. Total sales increased 0.1% year-on-year to $37.3 billion (approximately 5.36 trillion yen), of which the largest sales are 'MTX (microtransactions: paid content such as skins, gacha, and battle passes)', which increased 1.4% year-on-year to $24.4 billion (approximately 3.5 trillion yen), followed by 'Premium (one-time purchase type games)' which decreased 2.6% year-on-year to $10.7 billion (approximately 1.54 trillion yen), and 'DLC (downloadable content)' which increased 0.8% year-on-year to $5.3 billion (approximately 760 billion yen). In other words, PC gamers are investing more money in paid content than in one-time purchase type games.
Prime examples of games that generate large amounts of revenue from paid content include '
Three representative examples of DLC released in 2024 are ' Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred ,' ' ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE EDITION ,' and ' World of Warcraft: The War Within .'
On the other hand, the breakdown of software sales for consoles in 2024 is as follows. Although total sales are slightly higher than PCs, they are down 3.9% year-on-year to $42.8 billion (approximately 6.15 trillion yen). The breakdown is as follows: 'Premium' is down 14% year-on-year to $19.9 billion (approximately 2.86 trillion yen), 'MTX' is up 4.5% year-on-year to $13.9 billion (approximately 2 trillion yen), 'Subscriptions' is up 14.1% year-on-year to $6.9 billion (approximately 990 billion yen), and 'DLC' is up 2.5% year-on-year to $2.2 billion (approximately 320 billion yen).
We can see that console gamers are spending less on paid content than PC gamers, but spending on one-time purchase games is down 14% year-on-year, while spending on paid content is up 4.5% year-on-year, so we can see that console gamers are steadily shifting to spending more like PC gamers.
Among console gamers, the three most popular titles for paid content are 'Fortnite,' 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,' and ' NBA 2K25 .'
Popular DLC for console gamers include 'ELDEN RING SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE EDITION,' 'Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred,' and ' Final Form .'
Other findings from the study include that in 2024, PC gamers will spend just 8% of their gaming time on games released that year. Instead, PC gamers will spend over 60% of their gaming time on games released before 2024.
While game prices and sales volumes have remained largely stagnant, development budgets have skyrocketed, leading many publishers to look to in-game purchases to boost revenue. For example, Assassin's Creed: Shadows is priced at $70 overseas, but is packed with in-game purchase elements, such as cosmetic items that can be used in the game.
As a result, game media Kotaku pointed out that 'games that do not incorporate paid content, especially indie games, seem to be in an increasingly tough situation.'
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in Game, Posted by logu_ii