Global game industry outlook 2012-2016

Video games
Summary 348
North America 354
Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) 365
Asia Pacific 380
Latin America 392
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348 PwC | Global entertainment and media outlook: 2012–2016
Market size and
growth by region
The video game market in North America,
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia
Pacific, and Latin America will expand from
$58.7 billion in 2011 to $83.0 billion in
2016, growing at a 7.2 percent compound
annual rate. Asia Pacific, with three of
the top four countries in the world, is the
largest region, at $24.3 billion in 2011,
and is projected to be the fastest-growing
region during the next five years, increasing
10.3 percent on a compound annual basis
to $39.7 billion in 2016. Online games and
wireless games, the fastest-growing end-
user components of the video game market,
constitute a larger share of total spending
in Asia Pacific than in other regions and
consequently have a greater influence on
growth. EMEA, the second-largest region in
2011, with $18.0 billion, is projected to grow
by 4.8 percent compounded annually to
$22.8 billion. North America is projected
to increase from $15.1 billion in 2011
to $18.6 billion in 2016, growing by
4.3 percent on a compound annual basis.
Latin America is projected to grow to
$1.9 billion in 2016 from $1.3 billion in
2011, a 7.2 percent compound annual gain.
Market size and
growth by component
Global console games, the largest category,
at $27.5 billion in 2011, will expand at a
2.1 percent compound annual rate to
$30.5 billion in 2016. PC games will con-
tinue to decline, decreasing at a 1.9 percent
rate compounded annually to $3.1 billion
from $3.5 billion in 2011. Online games and
wireless games will be the fastest-growing
end-user categories, with compound annual
increases of 13.3 percent and 10.1 percent,
respectively. Online games will total
$31.4 billion in 2016, and wireless games,
$14.2 billion. As a result, online games will
replace console games as the largest gaming
category in 2016. Video game advertising
will increase from $2.2 billion in 2011 to
$3.7 billion in 2016, growing by 11.2 percent
on a compound annual rate.
Principal drivers
The shift to online and wireless games will
hurt the console game market in the near
term, although new games being marketed
for the current generation of consoles—the
Wii, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3
(PS3)—with improved motion-sensory
technology, which changes the game-play
experience and brings in a wider range of
players, will limit declines. The Wii U is the
only next-generation console that has been
officially announced, though next-generation
consoles from the other manufacturers are
likely to be introduced over the forecast
period, spurring sales of games that take
advantage of the new technologies, although
a dip in sales is to be expected during the
generational transition period for static
consoles. The latest handheld devices—the
Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita,
which are primarily gaming consoles—will
also continue supporting the market for
console/handheld games.
Deteriorating retail sales of games are
hurting retail stores. If this pattern causes
some retailers to close, it would further
exacerbate the decline in the market for
console and PC games.
Video games
The video game market consists of consumer spending on new console
games (including handheld games), personal computer games, online
games, and wireless games as well as video game advertising. The
category excludes spending on the hardware used for playing the games.
Retail purchases of games are included in either the PC games or console
games category. The online game category includes microtransactions,
which are players’ purchases of accessories and additional game content
that enhance the gaming experience. Oftentimes, online games are first
purchased at retail and then played online. When these games are then
played online for a subscription fee, the subscription fee is counted in the
online game category.
Summary
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Video games | Summary 349
Increased broadband penetration and,
with it, the growing digital distribution of
content will drive the growth of the online
market. The migration of many massively
multiplayer online games (MMOGs) from
their subscription models to a free-to-play
business model is increasing the number
of players worldwide. The growth of
microtransactions is providing a boom
for the industry. Casual games and social
network games are important components
of the online market, helping expand the
demographic base and stimulate spending.
Some developers are shifting their attention
from console games to concentrate more on
online games.
The growth of smartphones and tablets,
such as the iPad, with improved graphic
capabilities, is enabling developers to
produce more-advanced wireless games
and will drive demand for those games.
Smartphones and tablets, aided by an
intuitive-touch interface, are fast becoming
the devices of choice for casual game players.
At the same time, new application stores that
make the purchase of games more user-
friendly will increase the number of gamers
willing to purchase games. The growth of
advanced wireless networks, with their
faster speeds, will enable wireless games to
approach the quality of console games.
The market for PC games will continue
deteriorating as consumers turn their
attention to newer technologies. Piracy of
PC games, which is prevalent in certain
markets, has also hampered the growth of
the segment. The growth of the MMOGs,
which usually require retail purchase of a
PC game, continues to support the retail PC
game market.
Video game advertising is emerging as an
additional revenue stream. The growth
of social network games and free games
is driving an increase in video game
advertising.
Global video game market by region (US$ millions)
Region 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
North America 13,181 16,404 15,584 15,382 15,057 15,349 15,754 16,576 17,551 18,569
% Change 26.6 24.5 –5.0 –1.3 –2.1 1.9 2.6 5.2 5.9 5.8 4.3
EMEA 15,087 17,796 17,445 17,736 18,008 18,586 19,261 20,275 21,460 22,760
% Change 23.5 18.0 –2.0 1.7 1.5 3.2 3.6 5.3 5.8 6.1 4.8
Asia Pacific 15,215 18,624 20,942 23,059 24,313 26,982 29,664 32,751 36,099 39,739
% Change 28.1 22.4 12.4 10.1 5.4 11.0 9.9 10.4 10.2 10.1 10.3
Latin America 966 1,198 1,230 1,282 1,345 1,432 1,527 1,641 1,768 1,908
% Change 29.8 24.0 2.7 4.2 4.9 6.5 6.6 7.5 7.7 7.9 7.2
Total 44,449 54,022 55,201 57,459 58,723 62,349 66,206 71,243 76,878 82,976
% Change 26.1 21.5 2.2 4.1 2.2 6.2 6.2 7.6 7.9 7.9 7.2
Sources: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Wilkofsky Gruen Associates
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Global video game market by component (US$ millions)
Component 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Console games 26,964 32,006 30,106 28,946 27,493 27,106 26,861 27,703 28,899 30,477
% Change 28.4 18.7 –5.9 –3.9 –5.0 –1.4 –0.9 3.1 4.3 5.5 2.1
Online games 7,897 10,829 12,921 15,019 16,796 19,475 22,225 25,071 28,176 31,394
% Change 37.4 37.1 19.3 16.2 11.8 16.0 14.1 12.8 12.4 11.4 13.3
Wireless games 4,176 5,729 6,748 7,815 8,789 9,901 11,008 12,114 13,194 14,249
% Change 25.1 37.2 17.8 15.8 12.5 12.7 11.2 10.0 8.9 8.0 10.1
PC games 4,346 4,055 3,798 3,777 3,462 3,375 3,312 3,252 3,195 3,141
% Change –3.1 –6.7 –6.3 –0.6 –8.3 –2.5 –1.9 –1.8 –1.8 –1.7 –1.9
Total end-user
spending 43,383 52,619 53,573 55,557 56,540 59,857 63,406 68,140 73,464 79,261
% Change 25.5 21.3 1.8 3.7 1.8 5.9 5.9 7.5 7.8 7.9 7.0
Advertising 1,066 1,403 1,628 1,902 2,183 2,492 2,800 3,103 3,414 3,715
% Change 55.2 31.6 16.0 16.8 14.8 14.2 12.4 10.8 10.0 8.8 11.2
Total 44,449 54,022 55,201 57,459 58,723 62,349 66,206 71,243 76,878 82,976
% Change 26.1 21.5 2.2 4.1 2.2 6.2 6.2 7.6 7.9 7.9 7.2
Background on the
global console/handheld
hardware market
Consoles
The current generation of consoles—
consisting of the Xbox 360 from Microsoft,
the Wii from Nintendo, and the PlayStation 3
from Sony—began to be introduced in 2005.
The consoles were available by 2007 in all
regions except Latin America and became
available in Latin America in 2009.
Microsoft Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 was the first of the current
generation of consoles to be introduced
when Microsoft launched the device prior
to the holiday season in November 2005 in
North America, Europe, and Japan.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 has sold over
66 million units worldwide as of the end
of 2011 compared with about 50 million
by the end of 2010. In North America, the
Xbox 360 has a wide lead over the PS3,
while in EMEA, the PS3 has a slight lead.
By contrast, in Japan, the Xbox 360, which
appeals primarily to Western gamers, has
not performed well.
In November 2010, Microsoft introduced
Kinect, which eliminates the need for a
controller by using a specially designed
camera that enables games to detect a
player’s motions and replicate them on-
screen. Eighteen million Kinects were
shipped worldwide through the end of 2011
compared with 8 million a year earlier.
In December 2011, Xbox released voice-
activated search powered by Kinect and Bing.
In December 2011, the Xbox Live dashboard
was redesigned, giving offerings like Last.
fm and the Zune video rental service more
prominent positioning to encourage the
perception that the 360 is an entertainment
device that also plays games. In fact, games
represent only 60 percent of activity on
the Xbox 360. Use of the console to watch
videos has skyrocketed with the inclusion
of Netflix.
In February 2012, Kinect for Windows
was introduced worldwide, enabling the
device to be used with PCs. The Windows
version works with a variety of applications,
enabling other companies to integrate it into
their programs. Microsoft is working with
many companies such as Toyota, American
Express, and Mattel on new applications
that use the device.
One of Microsoft’s strengths is Xbox Live,
a multiplayer gaming network, social
network, and media suite. The Xbox Live
Free, which has limited capabilities, such as
voice chat and some downloadable content,
is available at no cost. A paid subscription
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to the Xbox Live Gold service is required
for multiplayer gaming, accessing social
networks such as Facebook and Twitter,
and accessing content such as ESPN3.
Worldwide, Microsoft has 40 million
subscribers to its online services.
There are rumors about the next Xbox
console that many have called the Xbox 720.
This device, which has not been announced
officially, is expected to integrate with the
Windows Phone. It is expected that the
device will include a much faster processor
and Blu-ray technology. The device is not
likely to be released before the end of 2013.
Nintendo Wii
The Wii, which was launched in November
2006, is marketed mainly as a game machine,
as opposed to the Sony and Microsoft
machines, which are being promoted as
media centers for home entertainment.
Nintendo has expanded the universe of game
players to include younger children, older
adults, and women. Wii is the most popular
console worldwide, having sold over
95 million units due to its wider appeal.
The most popular titles for the Wii are
published by Nintendo. Nintendo does not
have as much support from third-party
publishers as do Microsoft and Sony, though
a number of publishers, such as Electronic
Arts, Ubisoft, and Capcom, continue to
release exclusive titles for the Wii.
The Wii, which originally sold for $250,
saw in 2009 its first price reduction when
the price lowered to $200 in the US and
included a bundle containing a copy of
Wii Sports. In May 2011, the company
introduced its second price cut, lowering
the price to $150 and bundling it with Mario
Kart Wii instead. The lower console price
helped boost device sales. Sales of some of
the popular Wii games also spurred console
sales. For example, more than a million
copies of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
were sold between its November 2011
debut and the end of the year, helping spur
console sales. Similarly, despite launching
in 2010, Just Dance 2 continues to sell well
and was named the biggest third-party Wii
game of all time, with 14 million units sold
worldwide. The Wii sold over 4 million units
in the US in 2011.
The Wii is the only one of the major consoles
that does not display in high-definition
format. Nintendo introduced the Wii
MotionPlus accessory in 2009, enhancing
the Wii’s controller’s motion detection
capabilities, but Sony and Microsoft
responded with their own motion-based
peripherals in 2010: Move and Kinect. The
Wii is not as technologically advanced as
its competitors. As a result, Nintendo was
the first of the three major manufacturers
to introduce its next-generation console,
the Wii U, at the Electronic Entertainment
Expo in June 2011 in Los Angeles. The new
console, which is expected to be launched
in major markets worldwide in time for
the holidays in 2012, will display 1080p
graphics and feature a 6.2-inch touch-screen
controller that interacts with the TV and
also functions as a monitor for continuous
use when the TV is turned off. More details
of the device are expected to be introduced
at this year’s expo and are rumored to
include the ability to act as an e-reader
capable of displaying books, magazines, and
strategy guides for the company’s games.
There will be an app store designed for
the device that will include apps for the
TV screen, with others designed for the
controller itself. The device is expected to
work with multiple sticklike Wii controllers
to enable multiplayer gaming. The app store
and the e-reader will provide new revenue
streams for the company. The Wii U is
expected to be only slightly technologically
superior to its current competitors.
PlayStation 3
The PS3 was launched in November 2006
in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Mexico, and Canada, and in March
2007 in EMEA, Australia, and Singapore,
with subsequent launches, including
launches in the rest of Latin America in
2009. Global sales total around 63 million
units worldwide. As with the Xbox 360,
Sony has introduced a number of different
PS3 models since its introduction, with the
latest 160-gigabyte (GB) version replacing
the 120-GB version. In August 2011, Sony
lowered the price of the 160-GB and 320-
GB versions in the US to $249 and $299,
respectively, with similar price reductions
around the world. The price reductions
helped spur sales of the consoles in the
latter part of 2011. Sales of the PS3 have
grown each year since its launch. During
its 2010 fiscal year, Sony sold 14.3 million
PlayStation 3s worldwide and should hit
15 million by the end of its 2011 fiscal year
in March 2012.
The PS3 is being marketed as the most
advanced home entertainment center, with
a Blu-ray player and DVR capabilities as well
as an outstanding gaming console. The PS3
online environment is free to users and lets
game developers control their own environ-
ments. Additionally, other online content
such as movies can be downloaded. In 2010,
Sony introduced PlayStation Network Plus,
an optional paid upgrade that provides free
games, discounts, and other content. In
February 2012, Sony announced that the
PlayStation Network is being rebranded as
the Sony Entertainment Network.
In October 2010, Sony introduced the Move,
its new motion controller that is similar to
the Wii controller in that it is waved and can
be used in lieu of a sword, a baseball bat, or
many other devices. Unlike the Wii Remote,
the Move also makes use of the PlayStation
Eye camera to track the wand’s position with
greater fidelity and enable added game-
play features such as augmented reality.
In the US, the Move comes bundled with a
copy of Sports Champions or EyePet and the
PlayStation Eye camera. Sony shipped more
than 4 million units worldwide in the first
month. Sports Champions, which is similar
to Wii Sports, is a collection of sports that
show off the controller’s capabilities.
Sony has said there would be no
announcement at the 2012 Electronic
Entertainment Expo regarding a new
PlayStation console. The company said its
current console will have a life span of 10
years. That doesn’t mean a new console
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cannot be introduced before 2016; rather,
the PS3 will continue to sell for 10 years.
Similarly, the PlayStation 2 continues to
be supported and is still selling well, with
games like Madden NFL 12 and NBA 2K12
among the top games for the PS2 in some
territories. Many of Sony’s first-party games
have long shelf lives because they are not
annual titles like certain other hit games
such as the major sports titles.
Handheld devices
Combined with interest in the current
generation of consoles, the market for
portable game consoles continues to show
strength. The Nintendo DS (dual screen) is
the leading portable device on a worldwide
basis because of its simplicity, which has
broadened its appeal beyond hard-core
gamers. The DS has two screens, providing
players with two views of the action, touch-
screen capabilities, wireless connectivity, and
a built-in microphone, which are innovative
features in handheld game consoles.
The DS has broadened the market, attract-
ing women and older players with its Touch!
Generations brand of games, which includes
a number of games in the Nintendogs and
Brain Training franchises, both of which are
exclusive to the Nintendo DS. There are a
number of different DS models on the
market, including the DSi and the DSi Excel.
Nintendo introduced 3DS, the most anti-
cipated new gaming device of the year,
in February 2011 in Japan, and in the
American and European markets in March
2011. The device enables users to play
games in stereoscopic 3-D without the need
for special glasses. Some of the games that
were available at launch were Capcom’s
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition and
Nintendo’s Pilotwings Resort and Nintendogs
+ Cats. Additionally, since the new device
has backward compatibility, all games
that played on prior DS models also work.
Studios are planning to bring 3-D movies to
the device.
Initial sales of the 3DS were disappointing
as the result of a limited number of titles,
an incomplete online environment at the
time of launch, and poor battery life. At the
end of July 2011, Nintendo announced a
worldwide 3DS price cut that reduced prices
in Japan from ¥25,000 ($314) to ¥15,000
($188) and in the US from $250 to $180,
with comparable decreases worldwide,
and supplied free games to gamers who
purchased the device at full price. Sales of
the device jumped worldwide. The launch of
Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land was
quite successful, as they were the first two
3DS titles to reach a million units sold in the
US and they were the two top-selling titles in
Japan in 2011. As a result, the 3DS became
the top-selling device in the world in 2011.
The 3DS sold more than 4 million devices
in the US and Japan in 2011, outpacing the
Wii in its first nine months of sales. Sales are
expected to remain strong in 2012 with the
release of several major titles, including Kid
Icarus: Uprising, Luigi’s Mansion 2, Professor
Layton and the Mask of Miracle, and Metal
Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.
The other major game console in the
sophisticated portable market is the Sony
PSP (PlayStation Portable), a handheld
game device equipped with a 4.3-inch LCD
screen that plays music and movies on a
proprietary minidisc called the universal
media disc, which can hold 1.8 GB of data.
The PSP was originally launched in Japan in
December 2004 and in other major markets
in 2005. Since then, a number of different
models were introduced, including a budget
model called the PSP-E1000, which was
launched in 2011.
Sony introduced the PSP Vita, the newest
in its line of handheld devices, in Japan in
December 2011 and launched it worldwide
in February 2012. The Vita is a touch-
interface motion-sensitive handheld device
that is a successor to the PSP. The Vita has
high-definition capabilities and improved
graphics, providing a gaming experience
approaching that of the PS3. It has a five-
inch OLED (organic-light-emitting-diode)
screen running four times the resolution of
the PSP. It also has front and rear touch pads
and cameras. In the US, the Wi-Fi version
sells for $249, and the third-generation (3G)
version sells for $299. Some of the titles that
were available on launch day were Sony’s
Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Square Enix’s
Army Corps of Hell, and Electronic Arts
Sports’ FIFA Soccer. The Vita has a memory
card for physical software as well as the
ability to download games and apps via
the PlayStation Network. Sales of the Vita
trailed off in Japan after the first week. It
remains to be seen how well the device will
sell worldwide.
Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia PLAY
in 2011. It is an Android-based smartphone
that is part of the PlayStation Certified pro-
gram, meaning that it can play PlayStation
suite games.
The market for dedicated handheld
devices is facing growing competition
from the rapidly increasing capabilities
of smartphones and tablets. Though in
aggregate the dedicated devices have
advantages, such as the quality of the games
being superior to those on a smartphone
and having a controller-type feel to them, a
shrinking number of people are willing to
pay the relatively high prices for the games
when they can purchase much cheaper
games for their smartphones.
In general, the overall gaming experience is
being enhanced by the linking of different
gaming platforms. For example, Xbox Live
allows PC gamers to interact with Xbox
gamers. Additionally, technology advances
are enabling smartphones to act as
controllers for some of the consoles.
Social gaming
Social gaming on sites like Facebook,
Myspace, and Google+ is growing expo-
nentially. Social games are free, widely
available, load in a few seconds, and require
only a few minutes at a time to play. They
use a business model called freemium,
whereby the games are provided free, with
the developers gaining revenues through
microtransactions as well as advertising.
The games grow virally because users can
invite all of their contacts to join them in
playing the game.
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Zynga, the major game developer on
Facebook, is credited with introducing the
first social game, Zynga Poker, in July 2007.
Zynga’s Farmville, which was launched on
Facebook in June 2009, was the fastest-
growing game of all time, with more than
84 million monthly users at its peak. Since
then, CityVille, another game from Zynga,
which launched in December 2010, hit
88.4 million players within a month of its
release and has since reached more than
100 million visitors. It was the first time
that Zynga launched a game worldwide
simultaneously that is localized for specific
regions. In November 2010, Zynga acquired
Newtoy Inc., developer of Words With
Friends, a very popular game online as well
as on mobile devices. Since then, Zynga has
developed other games in the With Friends
series, including Hanging With Friends and
Scramble With Friends.
Cloud computing
In June 2010, OnLive introduced a
gaming-on-demand service based on cloud
computing in the US. At its launch, OnLive
had 10 games in its inventory and now has
more than 200 games available. Instead
of offering games for purchase online and
letting them download to a computer, the
on-demand service maintains the processing
of the games on its servers and enables users
to play the games via cloud computing.
This levels the playing field for all players
regardless of the computer they’re playing on,
and as a result, gamers using computers with
low-end processing capabilities experience
the games in the same way as those using
high-end machines, because the actual game
processing is taking place on the OnLive
servers and not on the gamers’ hardware.
Games are treated as a service, with the
business model being either a subscription
or a rental that targets nontraditional
demographics, a growing trend in the
market. The service will not replace a high-
end PC or console for core gamers, but it will
add more casual gamers to the market.
The service is being supported by major
publishers like Take Two, Electronic Arts (EA),
THQ, and Ubisoft to reach people who do
not normally buy games. Other advantages
of the service are that it will cut down
on piracy because the games are never
actually downloaded and it enables the
game developers to more easily update their
games. By contrast, game download services
like Valve’s Steam and EA’s Origin provide
digital distribution of a game but require
gamers to have powerful computers and
significant hard disk drive capacity to save
the games as well as the time to download
them. These two companies are the major
digital distribution platforms, though Valve’s
Steam is still much more established. Cloud-
computing models will contribute to overall
growth in online games. OnLive introduced
an all-you-can-play flat-fee subscription
service called PlayPack plan, which allows
unlimited access to the majority of its older
games. It is similar to the Netflix streaming
service for movies. OnLive was initially
available for PCs and Macs.
In December 2010, OnLive introduced a
game system that includes a MicroConsole
TV adapter, a free game, and a wireless
controller that can be connected to a TV via
Ethernet or Wi-Fi. In this way, games can be
played on a television without the need for
an expensive game console system. OnLive
expanded to the UK in September 2011.
In December 2011, OnLive introduced an
app for Apple and Android phones, enabling
them to run full versions of games. The
app works with Wi-Fi-enabled phones and
those that use fourth generation (4G). The
games cost more than mobile games but are
more advanced than typical mobile games.
Since the games are based in the cloud,
gamers can begin playing on a PC, switch
to a mobile device, and then switch back
to the PC.
Gaikai launched a similar cloud-based
game service in February 2011. Currently,
EA, Capcom, and Ubisoft have signed
agreements to supply many of their titles,
and Gaikai is negotiating with other
publishers to join the service. Players can try
the games for free on any connected device
and then purchase the games, which are
streamed to a PC or tablet.
OnLive is available on all Internet-connected
smart TVs running the Google TV platform;
Gaikai comes installed on a number of new
LG TVs.
In the near term, cloud-based services con-
tinue to face competition from companies
that are already established in the digital
distribution of games, such as Direct2Drive
and Shockwave. They are trying to sell their
products to a market whose consumers
are already equipped with the required
technology. Additionally, since the pricing
is not that much different from the current
pricing of the download companies, there’s
little incentive to switch to cloud gaming.
Since multiplayer gaming is becoming a
more important segment of the market,
these companies must develop strategies that
minimize the latency of playing games on a
remote server. The business model for the
cloud gaming companies has a better chance
for success in the future, when consumers
are faced with the choice of buying the
next generation of new consoles or playing
games from the cloud. Cloud computing
will have an impact on many segments of
the market, including having a negative
effect on the retail sales of console games
and PC games while having a positive effect
on the subscription-based online game
segment. Since cloud users save game data
and history in the cloud, this will make the
service stickier. Cloud services also will have
a positive impact on advertising because ads
can be easily updated in the cloud.
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The outlook in brief
• Growth of the online market as well as the migration of
some players to cheaper games on mobile devices will cut
into the console/handheld game market.
• The growing number of people playing games on social
networks and the increased number of microtransactions
are driving the online game market.
• Smartphones and tablets, which are becoming the
preferred devices for casual gamers, are boosting the
wireless game market.
• The physical PC game market will continue to deteriorate
as digital distribution of games increases and gamers seek
alternative platforms.
• Advertising will grow as more advertisers realize the
gaming industry’s potential to reach specific audiences.
Overview
• The overall video game market is projected to grow by
4.3 percent compounded annually to $18.6 billion in 2016
from $15.1 billion in 2011.
• Consumer spending on games will grow at a 3.6 percent
compound annual rate to $16.6 billion from $13.9 billion
in 2011, while advertising will increase from $1.2 billion
in 2011 to $2.0 billion, an 11.2 percent increase com-
pounded annually.
• Console/handheld games will continue to be the domi-
nant segment of the market, though growing at only a
1.9 percent compound annual rate to $10.6 billion in 2016
from $9.7 billion in 2011.
• Online games are expected to increase from $2.6 billion in
2011 to $3.9 billion in 2016, growing by 9.0 percent on a
compound annual basis.
• Wireless games will increase by 7.1 percent on a
compound annual basis from $1.1 billion in 2011 to
$1.6 billion in 2016.
• The PC game market will decrease to $434 million in
2016 from $534 million in 2011, a 4.1 percent compound
annual decline.
Video game market by component†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Console/handheld
games 9,445 11,988 10,863 10,237 9,672 9,474 9,339 9,666 10,105 10,625
Online games 1,747 1,993 2,136 2,319 2,559 2,842 3,150 3,419 3,693 3,932
Wireless games 462 861 937 1,024 1,115 1,203 1,287 1,370 1,474 1,574
PC games 935 788 751 767 534 502 485 468 451 434
Total end-user
spending 12,589 15,630 14,687 14,347 13,880 14,021 14,261 14,923 15,723 16,565
Advertising 592 774 897 1,035 1,177 1,328 1,493 1,653 1,828 2,004
Total 13,181 16,404 15,584 15,382 15,057 15,349 15,754 16,576 17,551 18,569
†At average 2011 exchange rates.
North America
Download a PDF version of each segment. Visit the online Outlook
at www.pwc.com/outlook
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Video games | North America 355
Video game market growth by component (%)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Console/handheld
games 35.0 26.9 –9.4 –5.8 –5.5 –2.0 –1.4 3.5 4.5 5.1 1.9
Online games 23.3 14.1 7.2 8.6 10.3 11.1 10.8 8.5 8.0 6.5 9.0
Wireless games –18.9 86.4 8.8 9.3 8.9 7.9 7.0 6.4 7.6 6.8 7.1
PC games –13.3 –15.7 –4.7 2.1 –30.4 –6.0 –3.4 –3.5 –3.6 –3.8 –4.1
Total end-user
spending 25.1 24.2 –6.0 –2.3 –3.3 1.0 1.7 4.6 5.4 5.4 3.6
Advertising 67.2 30.7 15.9 15.4 13.7 12.8 12.4 10.7 10.6 9.6 11.2
Total 26.6 24.5 –5.0 –1.3 –2.1 1.9 2.6 5.2 5.9 5.8 4.3
• The video game market in the United States is expected to
grow from $13.3 billion in 2011 to $16.4 billion in 2016, a
4.1 percent compound annual increase.
• The Canadian video game market will increase by
5.3 percent on a compound annual basis, reaching
$2.2 billion in 2016 from $1.7 billion in 2011.
Video game market by country†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 11,823 14,720 13,885 13,700 13,344 13,572 13,902 14,618 15,469 16,352 4.1
Canada 1,358 1,684 1,699 1,682 1,713 1,777 1,852 1,958 2,082 2,217 5.3
Total 13,181 16,404 15,584 15,382 15,057 15,349 15,754 16,576 17,551 18,569 4.3
Console/handheld game market
• The console/handheld game market experienced its
third straight year of declines, decreasing by 5.5 percent
following a 5.8 percent decline in 2010. In particular, sales
in December were much weaker than in December of the
prior year. The declines are attributable to the aging of the
current generation of consoles as well as the migration of
gamers to other platforms.
• Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
was the top-selling game in 2011. It became the biggest
entertainment launch in history, hitting $400 million
in the US and the UK on its first day of sales. The record
had previously belonged to the prior installment in the
franchise—Call of Duty: Black Ops—which grossed
$360 million on its first day in 2010. Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 3 went on to gross $1 billion in its first 16 days
after its November 8 launch, one day quicker than Avatar,
the James Cameron movie, which was the highest-
grossing film of all time. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is
available on all three consoles and on the PC. The Call of
Duty franchise includes five of the top-selling games of all
time in the US.
• Just Dance 3, which is available for all three of the major
consoles, was the second-best-selling game in 2011, while
its predecessor, Just Dance 2, the eighth-best-selling game
in 2011, is a Wii exclusive.
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• Gears of War 3, which is exclusive to the Xbox 360, was the
only other exclusive game among the top 10 in 2011. Two
other top games—Madden NFL 12 and Call of Duty: Black
Ops—are available for all three consoles. Call of Duty:
Black Ops is also available on the DS—among the top 10,
the only title available for that device.
• Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure was a hit kids’ game that
gained extra revenues through the sale of figures that
could be transported and played with multiple consoles,
thereby enabling children to take them to their friends’
houses and play with them regardless of the console they
were using.
• Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were the fastest-
selling portable games in 2011 and the first 3DS titles to
top 1 million in unit sales.
• A number of highly anticipated games are scheduled for
launch in 2012, including BioShock Infinite, the follow-up
to the outstanding 2007 first-person shooter BioShock;
Grand Theft Auto V, the latest in the hit series; and Mass
Effect 3, the third of the sci-fi trilogy that started in 2007.
All of these games will be available on the PS3 and the
Xbox 360. The Last Guardian will be one of the exclusive
PS3 titles to debut in 2012, while Halo 4 will likely be a
major exclusive title for the Xbox 360.
• Sony launched Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the PS Vita
in February 2012. Resident Evil: Revelations is the most-
anticipated game for the 3DS. It plays just like the console
version, allowing fans of Resident Evil 4 to have an
equivalent experience on a portable device.
• Although it has not been announced officially, Activision
is anticipated to continue its pattern of launching major
titles at the end of the year to take advantage of holiday
sales, with the introduction of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as
the next installment of the hit series.
• Canada passed the UK to become the third-largest
developer of video games in the world, surpassed only by
the US and Japan. Canada is the home of a number of top
video game developers, including Ubisoft in Montreal,
which developed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series of
games; BioWare in Alberta; and Electronics Arts in
Burnaby, British Colombia, which developed FIFA Soccer,
one of the most popular games in the world. Around 20
percent of the top-selling games in North America are
developed in Canada.
• Two factors that are helping make Canada a major
game-developing center are (1) the large pool of talent
as a result of many colleges with game development
departments and (2) government policies that support
the industry through tax credits and incentives. Provincial
governments in Canada are revamping their tax credit
systems to attract game developers. Ubisoft, for example,
is making a significant investment in Ontario because
of an attractive tax package. These incentives make it
cheaper and easier to develop games in Canada than in
the United States and Europe. The Canada Media Fund,
which traditionally supported television production, now
requires funded projects to have interactive components.
This is driving all content creators to develop video games
or interactive Web sites.
• The console/handheld game market declined in 2011 by
5.5 percent, reflecting the aging of the current generation
of consoles. The launch of Mario Kart 7 and Super
Mario 3D for the 3DS buoyed the market for handheld
games. There is a migration to more-casual and mobile
gaming, which is hurting the console game market. We
anticipate modest declines in 2012 and 2013 followed by
a turnaround in 2014, when it is expected that all three
next-generation consoles will be on the market. Until
then, new games developed to take advantage of the
motion controllers of the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as
new games for the 3DS, PSP Vita, and Wii U should have
a positive effect on the market, minimizing the decline.
Even with the new consoles, due to competition from
digital platforms we do not expect the console/handheld
game market to show the large increases of the past.
• The console/handheld game market in the United States
is expected to grow by 1.9 percent on a compound annual
basis from $8.8 billion in 2011 to $9.7 billion in 2016.
• A similar pattern is expected for the Canadian console/
handheld game market, with revenues increasing 1.9 per-
cent on a compound annual basis from $842 million in
2011 to $925 million in 2016.
• Overall spending in North America will increase from
$9.7 billion in 2011 to $10.6 billion in 2016, a 1.9 percent
compound annual increase.
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Console/handheld game market†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 8,714 10,997 9,900 9,350 8,830 8,650 8,525 8,825 9,225 9,700 1.9
Canada 731 991 963 887 842 824 814 841 880 925 1.9
Total 9,445 11,988 10,863 10,237 9,672 9,474 9,339 9,666 10,105 10,625 1.9
Online games
• The PC platform was traditionally the only means to
play games online and is still the dominant platform,
far surpassing the Xbox 360, which is in second place.
Consoles are becoming more-important platforms because
each of the consoles in the current generation of consoles
supports online gaming. Their online marketplaces—
Xbox Live, PlayStation Network (newly rebranded as Sony
Entertainment Network), and Nintendo Wii Shop—enable
gamers to purchase games, and they allow competition
against other players anywhere via the Internet.
• Sony’s PlayStation Network, which launched in 2006, is a
free environment that provides online gaming as well as a
means of downloading video and game content.
• Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription service for the PS3
went live in 2010 at a cost of $50 annually. Under the
plan, users get free access to a selection of games that are
normally available for sale from the PlayStation Network.
• Similarly, Microsoft has two online services: First, the
Xbox Live Silver, recently renamed Xbox Live Free,
provides users with free access so they can download
a limited number of game demos and movie trailers.
Second is a gold membership, which costs $60 annually
and which is required for online gaming or access to other
services like Facebook. The company has said it has
40 million registered users worldwide.
• Valve’s Steam service is the dominant company in the
market for legally downloading games to the PC. In late
2011, the company achieved a record 5 million concurrent
users. Steam has over 1,800 games available to download
to its 40 million registered users worldwide. In June 2011,
Steam introduced free-to-play games, including Sega’s
Spiral Knights and Perfect World’s Forsaken Worlds and
has expanded its library to around 20 games, with more
to be added in 2012.
• In June 2011, Electronic Arts launched Origin, formerly
the EA Store, as a competitor to Steam. Origin is a digital
distribution system that enables users to purchase games
on the Internet and download them to their PCs or mobile
devices. Additionally, Origin has a number of other
features, including (1) the saving of games in the cloud,
thereby enabling them to be played on different devices,
and (2) social features such as networking with friends.
Origin currently offers more than 100 titles in its portfolio
of games from a number of different publishers, far fewer
than the Steam platform, which has around 1,500 titles.
• The Mac App Store launched in January 2011 with over
a thousand programs and has made software (including
games) available in a familiar marketplace for iOS users.
There are now around 9,000 apps in the store, with games
representing the largest category. Many popular games are
in the store, including Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies.
That should help grow the market for Mac games, because
in the past, retail game stores rarely stocked them—in favor
of games for the PC and consoles instead.
• Massively multiplayer online games are played by
thousands of people simultaneously around the world.
MMOGs are virtual worlds inhabited by supernatural
beings, such as aliens or wizards that continue evolving.
Most MMOGs are played on PCs, with additional content
being delivered over broadband connections. World of
Warcraft (WoW), which was launched in November 2004,
is by far the most popular MMOG. The game, which had
12 million subscribers at its peak, has seen its subscriber
count decline to around 10 million. After buying the
game, subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee of $15
to continue playing online. World of Warcraft: Mists of
Pandaria, the latest expansion pack for WoW, is scheduled
to launch in 2012 and is expected to buoy demand for
the game.
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• A major new MMOG with a similar business model—Star
Wars: The Old Republic, was developed by EA’s BioWare
and launched on December 20, 2011, reaching 1 million
subscribers by the end of the month. Players who bought
the game are entitled to 30 days of free online service
before they have to pay the $15 monthly fee. It remains
to be seen how successful the game will be and if the
subscription model still has staying power.
• By contrast, many other MMOGs—such as EverQuest II,
Age of Conan, and DC Universe Online—have switched from
the traditional business model to a free-to-play model,
with microtransactions generating the revenues for the
publisher. After the switch, the number of players for
these games increased dramatically, as did the number of
microtransactions. Not all MMOGs that switch from the
subscription model become successful as free games, as
evidenced by the demise of LEGO Universe in January 2012,
which failed to achieve enough revenues after switching.
• Another major MMOG title is the free-to-play League of
Legends, published by Riot Games, which has 30 million
registered players worldwide.
• A number of new MMOGs are scheduled to launch in 2012,
including Guild Wars 2, developed by ArenaNet; Sony’s
Planetside 2; and BioWare’s Warhammer Online: Wrath of
Heroes. None of these will use the traditional subscription
business model but instead will be free to play, with
microtransactions providing the revenue stream.
• Electronic Arts introduced a line of free-to-play online
games, including Battlefield Heroes and Need for Speed
World, that have reached 25 million players worldwide.
• Microtransactions enable gamers to buy items that give
them an advantage in the game or enhance the gaming
experience. Combined with the free-to-play business
model, microtransactions let gamers control the amount
they spend on games rather than paying a monthly
subscription fee.
• Many game developers are adding downloadable digital
content for their games so as to enhance the gaming
experience and as an additional source of revenues.
Activision launched Call of Duty Elite, an online service, on
the same day it launched Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The
online service, which has more than 7 million subscribers,
provides access to additional downloadable content.
• Games on social networks, such as Facebook, have grown
exponentially. Zynga, the major game developer on
Facebook, has had a number of major games. Its CityVille
game became the biggest Facebook game of all time,
reaching 100 million users and surpassing the record held
by FarmVille, another Zynga game. The games are free
to play and generate revenues from microtransactions
and advertising. These games are also played by women
and by people in older age-groups, thereby opening
up opportunities for advertisers and other commercial
partners. Most of the social games are played on PCs and,
to a lesser extent, on smartphones and tablets. Words With
Friends, originally developed by Newtoy Inc., which is now
part of Zynga, has proved very popular on mobile devices.
Zynga continues to develop new games in the series,
including Scramble With Friends.
• The major game developers are beginning to realize the
potential of social games. Electronic Arts, which acquired
Playfish in November 2009 and PopCap in July 2011,
recently released a number of social games on Facebook,
including Sims Social, which reached 30 million users
in its first month. Similarly, Disney entered the social
game market by acquiring second-leading social game
developer Playdom.
• Casual games—such as puzzles, cards, and arcade games
that do not require extended periods of time to learn and
to play—have attracted a wider demographic audience,
including women and older adults. In fact, the majority of
online gamers in the United States are women. A number
of online sites—such as Yahoo! Games, MSN’s Zone, and
Electronic Arts’ Pogo.com—provide some free games,
with most of their revenues coming from advertising.
Some of the popular casual games are Bejeweled, Tetris,
Solitaire, and Luxor. The games can be played online or
downloaded. There are a number of different business
models, including free, advertising-supported games; pay
per game; and subscription-based games.
• The online game market in North America grew by
10.6 percent in 2011. Growth has been driven by an
increase in broadband subscribers, by transition to the
current generation of consoles, and by the growth of social
games. There are more subscription services entering
the market as well as more companies providing digital
distribution. The online game market will grow from
$2.6 billion in 2011 to $3.9 billion in 2016, increasing
at a 9.0 percent compound annual rate.
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• An expanding microtransaction market will also fuel online
game spending in North America during the next five years.
The online game market in the United States is expected to
increase from $2.1 billion in 2011 to $3.2 billion in 2016—
a 9.0 percent compound annual growth rate—while the
Canadian online game market will increase at a slightly
slower, 8.7 percent compound annual rate to $728 million
in 2016 from $480 million in 2011.
Online game market†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 1,399 1,605 1,722 1,879 2,079 2,316 2,574 2,797 3,020 3,204 9.0
Canada 348 388 414 440 480 526 576 622 673 728 8.7
Total 1,747 1,993 2,136 2,319 2,559 2,842 3,150 3,419 3,693 3,932 9.0
Wireless games
• Wireless games are games played on mobile phones and
other wireless devices. Almost all new wireless phones
are now Internet enabled, facilitating the ability to
download games. The increasing sophistication of the
new handsets will make for a more enjoyable gaming
experience. As people upgrade their existing handsets for
newer models, the number of game-capable handsets will
increase dramatically.
• Historically, mobile games were simplistic due to the
graphic limitation of the handsets. As a result, the most
popular mobile games were single-player board games,
word games, and puzzles, although that trend is changing
as AAA titles are being released for these devices. These
casual games help widen the demographics of wireless
game players. In fact, more than half of wireless gamers
are women who enjoy playing casual games such as
Tetris and Bejeweled, two of the most-often-downloaded
wireless games.
• Originally, many handsets were embedded with games
as a differentiator to drive sales of individual phones.
Those games provided enjoyment for the users but did not
provide any additional revenue for the operators. With
the expansion of Internet-connected phones, operators
saw the potential for additional revenues by users’ down-
loading of games at a modest fee. However, the carriers’
download platforms were often not consumer friendly.
• Apple’s introduction of the iPhone and the App Store
revolutionized the wireless game market. The App Store
improves the buying experience dramatically over
carriers’ decks, has better descriptions, and offers free
trials. The number of games on the App Store increased
from around 5,000 in October 2008 to over 75,000 by the
end of 2011. And a number of other online services such
as the Android Market have been established that compete
with the carriers’ decks to provide content.
• The sophistication of games for the iPhone and iPod Touch
has caused many gamers to substitute these devices for
their DS and PSP handheld devices.
• In 2010, Apple introduced the iPad, a tablet computer
that runs all of the iPhone applications, including the
games. With its enhanced graphic capabilities and its
large touch screen, the iPad is becoming the platform of
choice for many gamers. The introduction of the iPad 2,
with the advanced A5 processor chip, which renders
graphics much faster than the previous model did,
further establishes the iPad 2 as a device on which to play
games like Infinity Blade 2 and Real Racing 2, which have
graphics that rival those of console games. The newest
version, the iPad 3, with a higher-resolution screen, was
introduced in 2012.
• The Android mobile device market has skyrocketed
because of lower prices relative to the iPhones. These
phones provide another platform for gamers.
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• Although casual games continue to dominate the market,
more-advanced games that take advantage of the
sophistication of the newer smartphones are also being
developed. Even wireless versions of MMOGs are being
developed for gamers on the go. These games will become
more prevalent as the number of technically advanced
handsets proliferates.
• There are a growing number of mobile games, both because
of the rising penetration by smartphones and because the
games are significantly cheaper than console games. Mobile
gaming provides an enjoyable experience for short periods
of time, as when waiting for a bus or train.
• The business model for mobile games is moving from the
pay to download to the freemium model whereby the
games are downloaded for free, with microtransactions
and advertising providing the necessary revenues. In
fact, it’s estimated that in-game purchases will outpace
download fees in the near future. Angry Birds was a
hugely successful game as a paid download but has now
garnered more fans as a free download.
• Social network games are finding their way to mobile
phones, with microtransactions and advertising providing
the requisite revenue streams.
• In December 2011, Microsoft introduced an Xbox Live
app for Windows phones and Apple devices that enables
users to track and compare their achievements and
send messages to Xbox Live friends. Microsoft is also
developing apps that will enable users to play Xbox Live
games on their devices.
• Electronic Arts Mobile, the world’s leading mobile game
developer, is headquartered in California, with a major
studio in Canada, and is best known for turning big-name
titles like Monopoly, Scrabble, and Tetris into mobile games.
Electronic Arts’ major position resulted from its purchase of
Jamdat in 2006. Jamdat had been the largest mobile game
developer in the world. EA Mobile continues acquiring
smaller studios to enhance its position as the industry
leader. In 2010, it acquired Chillingo, a leading publisher
of iOS games, including the iOS version of Angry Birds. In
2011, EA acquired Australian game developer Firemint,
developer of Flight Control, Real Racing, and SpyMouse. In
2011, EA launched a mobile version of its popular Facebook
social game Sims FreePlay for Apple devices.
• Zynga, the online game developer famous for its games
on Facebook such as CityVille, is developing a series
of games for mobile devices to expand its user base. It
recently introduced its Scramble With Friends word game
to join Words With Friends and Hanging With Friends in the
wireless segment.
• The wireless game market is expected to continue growing
as the penetration by smartphones and tablets expands.
More people will be playing games, including casual
games, social games, and more-advanced multiplayer
games. The market will also grow as more gamers get
accustomed to making microtransactions in order to
enhance their gaming experience.
• The wireless game market in North America rose 8.9 per-
cent in 2011. During the next five years, the market will
expand at a 7.1 percent compound annual rate from
$1.1 billion in 2011 to $1.6 billion in 2016.
• The wireless game market in the United States is expected
to grow by a 7.1 percent compound annual rate, reaching
$1.4 billion in 2016, up from $990 million in 2011, while
the Canadian market will increase from $125 million
in 2011 to $181 million in 2016, a 7.7 percent annual
growth rate.
Wireless game market†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 384 767 833 911 990 1,066 1,138 1,211 1,304 1,393 7.1
Canada 78 94 104 113 125 137 149 159 170 181 7.7
Total 462 861 937 1,024 1,115 1,203 1,287 1,370 1,474 1,574 7.1
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PC games
• The PC game market declined in 2011, returning to its
normal pattern of deterioration. This follows a one-year
aberration, when the sale of boxed PC games increased for
the first time in recent years as revenues got boosted by
large sales of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and StarCraft II.
With just a few exceptions, the retail market for PC games
has been in decline for a number of years because the
rise of the consoles has shifted the market away from
the PC. It must be noted that this section deals only with
retail sales of PC games and does not include digital
distribution of PC games, subscriptions to online games,
or microtransactions that take place in online games.
Those revenue streams are growing in importance and are
included in the online game category.
• Retail sales of PC games have been deteriorating for a
number of reasons: Developers are producing fewer PC
games because of the fear of piracy. Consumers have been
migrating from PC games to those played on the current
generation of consoles. Retailers do not make the same
effort to market PC games, often relegating them to the
backs of their stores. And the move to digital distribution
of games makes downloading them directly to the PC an
easier alternative to purchasing games at retail.
• Despite recent sales declines, PC games do have a solid fan
base. PCs give gamers a superior method to play certain
game genres such as strategy games and MMOGs, because
a keyboard and mouse provide better means of interacting
with the games than a console controller does. PC games
also provide superior graphics. The most-advanced games
are often PC based because the open platform, with no
certification necessary, as is required with console games,
facilitates more-efficient development of games.
• PCs are offering better graphics than the aging consoles
are. The high-end graphics processing unit (GPU) from
NVIDIA is selling well as hard-core gamers upgrade their
computers to play games like Battlefield 3 and Elder Scrolls
V: Skyrim.
• The growth of MMOGs is aiding the retail PC game market
because most MMOGs require retail purchase of the game,
after which the gamer can play the game online.
• World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the third expansion pack
for the MMOG, sold 3.3 million copies worldwide on its
first day of availability—December 7, 2010—making it
the fastest-selling PC game of all time. It beat the previous
record holder, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King,
the second expansion pack, which sold 2.8 million copies
the first day. Despite losing subscribers recently, World
of Warcraft is still quite popular around the world, and
expectations are that the next expansion pack, World of
Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, scheduled to debut in 2012,
will help spur PC game sales.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic, a major new MMOG, launched
in late December 2011, quickly rose up the sales charts
to become one of the most popular PC games of the year.
Another new major MMOG was League of Legends.
• Steam is the major player in the PC game download market,
with around 70 percent of the market. Direct2Drive,
EA.com, Blizzard.com, and Big Fish Games are among
the other download services. PC game downloads are not
included in PC gaming spending and effectively compete
with PC games.
• In addition to World of Warcraft, the other major franchise
that continues to support PC game sales comprises the
various Sims games. Sims 3, launched in June 2009,
continues to be a major-selling PC game franchise. The
Sims 3 Showtime expansion pack was released in 2012.
• The new PC games expected in 2012 include Guild Wars 2
and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
• We expect the number of games sold to show modest
decreases throughout the forecast period but not be offset
by modest price increases. North American spending on
PC games will decline from $534 million in 2011 to
$434 million in 2016, decreasing at a compound annual
rate of 4.1 percent.
• The US PC game market will decline by 4.2 percent
compounded annually from $470 million in 2011 to
$380 million in 2016, while the Canadian market will
decline from $64 million to $54 million, a 3.3 percent
compound annual rate.
Filter advertising and consumer spending data across segments.
Visit the online Outlook at www.pwc.com/outlook
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PC game market†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 826 701 680 700 470 440 425 410 395 380 –4.2
Canada 109 87 71 67 64 62 60 58 56 54 –3.3
Total 935 788 751 767 534 502 485 468 451 434 –4.1
Advertising
• Advertisers are turning to video games to reach specific
demographic groups that are becoming more elusive. The
prime example is males 18 to 34 years of age, who are
spending relatively less time watching television and more
time with interactive games. The video game platform
provides a unique level of engagement that is missing
in other advertising media. People are less likely to be
multitasking when they play games as compared with
when they are watching television.
• Initially, all ads were static, such as billboards that
appeared in the backgrounds of sporting events or pro-
duct placements in which a character is shown with a
branded product. Such ads were placed in the games at
the time the games were developed, and they could not
be changed. The ads often appeared in sports games and
other contemporary environments where they added a
measure of authenticity to the games.
• With the advent of online gaming, a more-advanced type
of advertising became possible. Advertisers can now
place ads that can be changed dynamically through the
Internet. For example, a billboard promoting a movie
can be updated as new films get released. In this way, the
advertising will always be fresh. Additionally, advertising
can be targeted geographically, with different messages
hitting different geographic areas. The messages can be
programmed for delivery at specific times of day. Since
online games are attached to the Internet, it’s also possible
to track both the number of times a gamer is exposed
to ads and the amount of time that ads appear on the
screen. And the placement of the ads can vary by the
user’s experience. For example, if a player does not spend
enough time on the ad, it can be made to reappear later in
the game.
• Advergaming is the practice of using a video game to
promote a product or a service. Such video games are
often played for free on corporate Web sites. Many broad-
cast and cable networks promote their programs through
the use of advergames. Some of the popular advergames
are Ace Assault II and LEGO Harry Potter, both of them
sponsored by LEGO; Mobile 1 Track Challenge, sponsored
by ExxonMobil; and Kart Fighter, sponsored by Red Bull.
The US Army designed a game called America’s Army to
promote recruitment.
• Advertisers can reward gamers for looking at ads by
providing gamers with additional game content for free.
This procedure is often used in social and mobile games.
In this way, the ads do not interfere with the game but,
rather, are means for gamers to receive additional content
that they would normally pay for.
• A major growth area is advertising that appears around
games on social networks. For example, Facebook often
places ads in the borders around social games.
• In 2006, Microsoft entered the game advertising market
by acquiring Massive Inc., a pioneer in the in-game
advertising industry. Massive had deals with Electronic
Arts, THQ, and Activision to insert ads in a number of
their games. Advertisers that wanted to place ads in Xbox
360 games had to go through Massive. In October 2010,
Microsoft announced it was closing down its Massive
subsidiary and would deploy its technology into its first-
party ad business. Xbox Live thus became Microsoft’s sole
advertising platform.
• Microsoft had been placing ads in its Xbox 360 games
for several years, while Sony began permitting in-game
advertising in the middle of 2008. Nintendo still does not
permit in-game advertising in any of its games.
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• Sony is taking a different approach to its in-game adver-
tising by opening up its platform to allow independent
ad companies to broker deals with third-party game
publishers. IGA Worldwide and Double Fusion, two
companies that also developed the technology to insert
dynamic ads in games, have partnered with Sony to place
dynamic ads in PS3 games. IGA signed exclusive deals
with Activision and Electronic Arts to deliver in-game ads
for the PS3, while Double Fusion signed deals to insert
dynamic ads on the PS3 for NBA 2K12 and NHL 2K12.
• The dynamic in-game advertising segment of the market
has not grown as quickly as expected, as evidenced by
the closings of Microsoft’s Massive subsidiary and the
downsizing of employees at IGA Worldwide, a leader in
this market segment. Instead of in-game advertising in
major gaming titles, advertisers are focusing more on
casual and mobile games.
• Double Fusion, a leading independent in-game advertising
network, acquired the assets of rival NeoEdge Networks
in December 2011, which focused on in-game ads in social
and mobile games. These ads are often placed when a
round of play ends rather than within the game itself.
Double Fusion—whose clients include McDonald’s,
Dr. Pepper, State Farm Insurance, and Toyota and which
has placed ads in games developed by Ubisoft and THQ,
among others—is thus likely to concentrate more on social
and mobile games.
• Greystripe, the world’s leading independent mobile
advertising network, is bringing ad-funded games to
the iOS and Android platforms. Previously, Greystripe
concentrated its efforts on making games available to
consumers directly on its own Web site Gamejump.com.
Angry Birds, which was a huge hit as a paid download
on the App Store, has gained even more fans as an ad-
supported game on the Android platform.
• Display ads, advergames, and advertising on Web-based
game portals are the major advertising segments.
• Advertising is appropriate only in sports games and other
games set in contemporary times where it enhances the
gaming experience by making the environment more
realistic, because it would be hard to imagine a baseball
stadium without billboards. In those cases, gamers
respond favorably to the ads, and studies have shown
that they have favorable perceptions of the advertised
products and are more likely to buy them. By contrast, ads
would not be appropriate in games set in medieval times
or fantasy worlds, and Blizzard has said ads would never
appear in World of Warcraft games. Similarly, studies
found that ads are less effective in violent games because
such games require a higher level of concentration,
drawing players’ attention, and players are averse to ads
that draw their attention away from the actual game
playing. Ads in violent games must therefore be less
obtrusive so gamers can absorb them without distraction;
otherwise, the ads could have a negative impact.
• Product placement is an effective means of advertising
in video games. Having a character interact with a
product, such as drinking Red Bull to stay alert, drives
the message home.
• Microsoft introduced a new suite of advertising tools in
2011 called NUads (natural user-interface ads) for its
motion-sensing Kinect devices. NUads enable gamers
to use voice and motion commands to access additional
product information and maps of local establishments
selling the products. By simply saying “Xbox more,” a
gamer can get an e-mail with more information about the
advertised product.
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• Video game advertising is still only a small segment of
the video game market, with North American revenues
estimated at $1.2 billion in 2011. Game publishers are
using advertising revenues to supplement revenues from
game sales, which are decreasing in the retail market.
We expect this market to expand, fueled by the growth of
social and mobile games. By 2016, video game advertising
will total $2.0 billion, growing by 11.2 percent at a
compound annual rate.
• The United States is the largest market in the world for
video game advertising, with revenues of $975 million in
2011 that will grow to $1.7 billion in 2016. The Canadian
market, being closely associated with that of the United
States, is a relatively strong market for advertising, with
revenues of $202 million in 2011 that will grow to
$329 million in 2016.
Video game advertising market†
(US$ millions)
North America 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
United States 500 650 750 860 975 1,100 1,240 1,375 1,525 1,675 11.4
Canada 92 124 147 175 202 228 253 278 303 329 10.2
Total 592 774 897 1,035 1,177 1,328 1,493 1,653 1,828 2,004 11.2
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Video games | EMEA 365
The outlook in brief
• The console/handheld market is being hurt by the shift to
online and mobile gaming.
• The online game market is being driven by increased
broadband penetration, the growth of social online
gaming, and increased digital distribution of content.
• The wireless market is being driven by the explosion of
smartphones and tablets that enable an enhanced gaming
experience.
• Retail PC game sales will continue to deteriorate as digital
distribution expands, which is also hurting retail stores.
• Video game advertising is being driven by the increase in
free social network games.
Overview
• The overall video game market is anticipated to increase
from $18.0 billion in 2011 to $22.8 billion in 2016,
growing at a compound annual rate of 4.8 percent.
• Consumer spending on video games will grow by
4.6 percent on a compound annual basis from $17.4 billion
in 2011 to $21.8 billion in 2016.
• Video game advertising is expected to grow by 10.2 percent
on a compound annual basis from $613 million in 2011 to
• Console/handheld games will continue to be the largest
segment of the market, increasing by 1.9 percent com-
pounded annually from $9.5 billion in 2011 to $10.5 billion
in 2016.
• Online games, driven by both casual games and MMOGs,
will increase by 11.3 percent compounded annually to
$6.8 billion in 2016 from $4.0 billion in 2011.
• Wireless games will increase to $2.4 billion by 2016,
up from $1.6 billion in 2011, an 8.4 percent compound
annual increase.
• PC game sales will dip from $2.2 billion to $2.1 billion, a
1.7 percent compound annual decrease.
Video game market by component†
(US$ millions)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Console/handheld
games 9,212 11,180 10,328 9,883 9,534 9,374 9,252 9,520 9,914 10,453
Online games 1,976 2,510 3,021 3,569 4,002 4,550 5,140 5,689 6,274 6,832
Wireless games 948 1,197 1,342 1,467 1,614 1,764 1,927 2,084 2,252 2,421
PC games 2,653 2,520 2,312 2,298 2,245 2,197 2,162 2,127 2,090 2,060
Total end-user
spending 14,789 17,407 17,003 17,217 17,395 17,885 18,481 19,420 20,530 21,766
Advertising 298 389 442 519 613 701 780 855 930 994
Total 15,087 17,796 17,445 17,736 18,008 18,586 19,261 20,275 21,460 22,760
Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA)
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Video game market growth by component (%)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Console/handheld
games 29.4 21.4 –7.6 –4.3 –3.5 –1.7 –1.3 2.9 4.1 5.4 1.9
Online games 31.3 27.0 20.4 18.1 12.1 13.7 13.0 10.7 10.3 8.9 11.3
Wireless games 26.9 26.3 12.1 9.3 10.0 9.3 9.2 8.1 8.1 7.5 8.4
PC games 0.4 –5.0 –8.3 –0.6 –2.3 –2.1 –1.6 –1.6 –1.7 –1.4 –1.7
Total end-user
spending 23.1 17.7 –2.3 1.3 1.0 2.8 3.3 5.1 5.7 6.0 4.6
Advertising 46.1 30.5 13.6 17.4 18.1 14.4 11.3 9.6 8.8 6.9 10.2
Total 23.5 18.0 –2.0 1.7 1.5 3.2 3.6 5.3 5.8 6.1 4.8
• At $3.8 billion in 2011, the United Kingdom is the largest
video game market in EMEA. The United Kingdom is
an important game-developing center that includes
development of such major games as Batman: Arkham
City, Little Big Planet, and the Grand Theft Auto series.
The UK also has specialist expertise, such as a strong
visual effects industry, which is important in the final
production of games. In the United Kingdom, the industry
is concerned that other countries—especially France,
Canada, and Singapore—are luring game developers
away by providing tax incentives, and therefore the
UK’s video game industry has asked the government for
similar incentives. In March 2010, the British government
announced plans to include in its annual budget certain
tax breaks for the gaming industry. However, later in the
year, after the elections, the new government changed
course and did not include the tax breaks. It appears that
game publishers are moving some of their development
studios to Canada, which provides more-beneficial tax
incentives and now claims to have surpassed the UK as
the third-largest game development market. From 2008
to 2010, the British game industry’s workforce declined
by 9 percent, while that of Canada increased by one-third.
The UK game market decreased 1.5 percent in 2011, its
third consecutive decline—after many years of significant
growth—because of the migration of players to other
platforms. The UK is expected to maintain its dominance
in EMEA, growing 4.4 percent on a compound annual
basis to $4.7 billion in 2016.
• France, the second-largest video game market in EMEA,
at $3.4 billion in 2011, is the home of Vivendi (majority
owner of Activision Blizzard) and Ubisoft Entertainment,
two of the top five video game publishers in the world.
Additionally, France has two of the primary producers of
mobile games: Gameloft and Zenops. The French govern-
ment provides significant tax benefits for the development
of games—same as it does for the film industry—and
many international game developers have established
studios in France. The video game market in France is
expected to grow 3.6 percent on a compound annual basis
to $4.0 billion in 2016.
• Germany has the third-largest video game market in EMEA,
at $2.8 billion in 2011. Germany’s game market is unique in
comparison to the other major markets in that its PC game
market is relatively strong compared with the console game
market because of the relatively low levels of penetration
by console hardware. Germany has strict laws regarding
violence in video games. In fact, Germany has its own
voluntary industry board called the USK, which reviews
and rates games, while most other European countries
follow the Pan-European Game Information ratings system.
Germany has about 10,000 people working in the game
industry at large international publishers such as Sony,
Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts as well as at local companies
like Bigfoot and Gameforge. Germany is at the forefront of
the development of free-to-play online games, the fastest-
growing segment of the online market. The German market
will expand to $3.3 billion in 2016, a 3.5 percent compound
annual increase.
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• Italy also has a significant video game industry, with
revenues of $1.4 billion in 2011. Italy has a number of
small game developers, many of which are subsidiaries of
larger, foreign companies. The games developed locally
are often football (soccer) related. The local market
has been hampered by piracy, and the government has
promised to try to combat the problem because Italy
has the highest rate of pirated games in Europe. Italian
spending on video games is expected to grow to
$1.9 billion in 2016, increasing at a 6.2 percent com-
pound annual rate.
• Spain has the fifth-largest video game market in EMEA,
at $1.2 billion in 2011. By 2016, the Spanish video game
market will total $1.5 billion, a 4.6 percent compound
annual increase.
• Russia is by far the largest market in Central and
Eastern Europe, with revenues of $1.4 billion in 2011.
Additionally, Russia is projected to exhibit the highest
growth rate of any country in EMEA, increasing at
an annual rate of 11.0 percent compounded annually
through 2016 to reach $2.3 billion. Similar to Germany,
the PC game is relatively strong in Russia. In fact, outside
Germany, Russia is Steam’s largest-growing territory in
EMEA. Free-to-play MMOGs are very popular in Russia.
Console/handheld game market
• The console/handheld game market decreased by
3.5 percent to $9.5 billion in 2011, due partially to the
aging of the current generation of consoles.
• The market is expected to exhibit modest declines in
2012 and 2013 before returning to positive growth in
2014, as many new games will be developed for the next
generation of consoles, which are expected to hit the
market in the latter part of the forecast period. We do
not expect the high growth rates that occurred when the
current generation of consoles debuted, because there is
increased competition from other gaming platforms.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the most popular title
in Europe in 2011, as it was in the US and worldwide.
The game broke several worldwide records, including
reaching the billion-dollar level in 16 days, one day faster
than Avatar, the James Cameron movie that became the
biggest-grossing film of all time.
• The UK is the biggest market in the region, with revenues
totaling $2.2 billion in 2011. Console/handheld game
sales declined 6.9 percent in 2011 following larger
declines in 2009 and 2010. The UK is the home of a
number of major game developers, including Rockstar
North, Rocksteady Studios, Media Molecule, Lionhead
Studios, Codemasters, FreeStyleGames (a subsidiary of
Activision Blizzard), and Blitz Games Studios.
• Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was
the top-selling game in the UK in 2011, grossing a record-
breaking £83 million ($133 million) in its first week. It
was the third year in a row that a Call of Duty title was the
top-selling game in the UK. Some of the other best-selling
titles across all platforms in the UK in 2011 were FIFA 12
and Battlefield 3. Those three titles were among the top
sellers on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. By contrast,
the top sellers on the Wii were Zumba Fitness, Just Dance
3, and Just Dance 2. Revenues in the UK are expected to
reach $2.3 billion in 2016, a 1.4 percent compound annual
growth rate from 2011.
• France is the second major market in the region, with
revenues of $2.0 billion in 2011 that are expected to
increase to $2.1 billion in 2016, a 1.3 percent increase
compounded annually.
• Germany is the third-largest market, with revenues of
$1.6 billion. Germany has a strict ratings system that
limits sales of violent games and holds down the console
market. The console market in Germany is relatively
small compared with the country’s PC market, owing to a
lower penetration by consoles. Germany is the only major
market where more people play games on PCs rather than
on stationary consoles. The market is expected to grow
to $1.8 billion in 2016, a 2.3 percent compound annual
increase from 2011.
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Video game market by country†
(US$ millions)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Western Europe
Austria 63 75 77 81 81 84 87 92 97 103 4.9
Belgium 302 380 360 355 346 340 335 346 359 377 1.7
Denmark 173 202 196 199 201 206 212 221 230 240 3.6
Finland 130 145 167 182 182 179 182 188 198 206 2.5
France 2,869 3,412 3,386 3,416 3,352 3,395 3,455 3,602 3,793 3,999 3.6
Germany 2,280 2,631 2,592 2,659 2,757 2,803 2,847 2,959 3,110 3,281 3.5
Greece 45 54 55 60 60 65 65 67 73 75 4.6
Ireland 387 470 462 482 488 503 522 549 580 612 4.6
Italy 1,112 1,326 1,291 1,371 1,428 1,497 1,580 1,686 1,801 1,926 6.2
Netherlands 658 789 801 801 809 831 850 888 929 982 4.0
Norway 184 217 193 190 190 195 201 211 220 233 4.2
Portugal 39 49 47 51 56 58 62 64 67 67 3.7
Spain 1,304 1,445 1,304 1,212 1,223 1,247 1,288 1,363 1,442 1,529 4.6
Sweden 325 384 353 367 377 389 403 421 446 476 4.8
Switzerland 363 441 451 482 500 521 543 571 607 643 5.2
United Kingdom 3,580 4,304 3,974 3,812 3,755 3,844 3,973 4,171 4,399 4,659 4.4
Western Europe total 13,814 16,324 15,709 15,720 15,805 16,157 16,605 17,399 18,351 19,408 4.2
Central and Eastern Europe
Czech Republic 82 84 98 112 122 131 141 151 162 174 7.4
Hungary 20 22 23 25 25 27 29 30 32 33 5.7
Poland 255 323 334 350 363 375 389 403 419 437 3.8
Romania 11 16 22 23 25 26 28 29 28 29 3.0
Russia 685 759 967 1,207 1,357 1,544 1,728 1,905 2,092 2,285 11.0
Turkey 39 47 49 50 55 58 63 65 68 71 5.2
Central and Eastern
Europe total 1,092 1,251 1,493 1,767 1,947 2,161 2,378 2,583 2,801 3,029 9.2
Middle East/Africa
Israel 59 72 73 76 80 85 89 94 99 103 5.2
Middle East/North
Africa (MENA)‡
NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA —
South Africa 122 149 170 173 176 183 189 199 209 220 4.6
Middle East/
Africa total 181 221 243 249 256 268 278 293 308 323 4.8
EMEA total 15,087 17,796 17,445 17,736 18,008 18,586 19,261 20,275 21,460 22,760 4.8
‡Comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Console/handheld game market†
(US$ millions)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Western Europe
Austria 35 40 36 36 33 32 31 32 33 35 1.2
Belgium 225 299 280 271 259 249 242 250 260 273 1.1
Denmark 112 133 121 118 115 113 111 114 118 123 1.4
Finland 83 97 121 129 125 121 118 121 125 131 0.9
France 1,881 2,295 2,191 2,156 2,017 1,962 1,913 1,962 2,045 2,149 1.3
Germany 1,258 1,572 1,600 1,550 1,590 1,579 1,565 1,614 1,683 1,781 2.3
Greece 22 28 26 26 24 24 22 22 24 25 0.8
Ireland 227 278 250 250 237 228 223 230 239 252 1.2
Italy 687 857 807 843 842 835 828 856 897 953 2.5
Netherlands 316 409 381 344 316 306 298 306 320 337 1.3
Norway 120 143 119 110 104 102 101 103 106 111 1.3
Portugal 21 25 22 22 21 21 21 22 22 22 0.9
Spain 885 957 783 680 647 627 612 626 643 675 0.9
Sweden 217 252 241 242 240 237 235 240 251 264 1.9
Switzerland 194 236 230 232 228 223 219 223 230 241 1.1
United Kingdom 2,524 3,055 2,600 2,326 2,165 2,109 2,077 2,133 2,213 2,326 1.4
Czech Republic 37 40 46 54 58 61 64 67 71 75 5.3
Hungary 10 12 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 3.1
Poland 118 149 163 177 188 198 209 220 233 248 5.7
Romania 4 7 8 9 10 10 11 12 12 13 5.4
Russia 109 136 123 129 138 159 175 186 201 222 10.0
Turkey 22 26 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 33 4.9
Central and Eastern
Europe total 300 370 375 406 432 468 501 528 562 605 7.0
Middle East/Africa
Israel 33 39 36 35 34 34 33 34 35 37 1.7
Middle East/North
Africa (MENA)‡
South Africa 72 95 109 107 105 104 102 104 108 113 1.5
Middle East/
Africa total 105 134 145 142 139 138 135 138 143 150 1.5
EMEA total 9,212 11,180 10,328 9,883 9,534 9,374 9,252 9,520 9,914 10,453 1.9
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Online games
• The PC platform has traditionally been the only means of
playing games online and is still the dominant platform
for online games, far surpassing the Xbox 360, which
is in second place. The major console manufacturers—
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo—have introduced online
marketplaces (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and
Nintendo Wii Shop) that enable gamers to purchase games
and other content and that facilitate competition against
other players anywhere in the world via the Internet.
• Digital distribution of content is emerging as an important
segment of the market. In addition to full games, players
can also download additional game content to enhance
their playing experience.
• The online game market is composed of several segments.
Massively multiplayer online games are usually role-playing
games that take place in fantasy or medieval worlds and
can be played over long periods of time. After purchasing
copies of the game at retail stores, players often pay
monthly fees to participate, sometimes making additional
purchases to buy online equipment and accessories. The
microtransactions associated with MMOGs are major
drivers of online gaming revenue growth. Currently, these
games are played primarily on PCs. World of Warcraft is the
leading MMOG in EMEA and is expected to maintain its
lead with its new expansion pack—World of Warcraft: Mists
of Pandaria—scheduled for release in 2012.
• As in many other regions, the free-to-play business model
is taking hold in EMEA, with microtransactions supplying
the requisite revenues. Many popular MMOGs, including
EverQuest II, recently switched to the free-to-play model
and have experienced growth in number of users
and spending.
• Rapid growth in social gaming is also driving spending on
microtransactions. Many social games are free, but gamers
buy virtual goods to give them an edge or otherwise
improve the gaming experience.
• Another segment of the online market consists of casual
gamers who go to a Web site and play strategy games
or puzzle games—often at no charge—with advertising
supplying the requisite revenues. Casual game sites like
RealGames.com, King.com, and PopCap.com reach two-
thirds of European gaming households. These casual
game sites expand the demographics of gamers. For
example, in France the majority of gamers using online
game portals are women. In Germany, GMX.net is a major
game portal for casual games. In general, game portals are
usually language specific.
• OnLive and Gaikai are two cloud-based gaming services
that let players play traditional disk-based PC games on
entry-level computers, because the processing takes place
on the companies’ servers. With cloud gaming, there’s no
need to download the games or own the physical media.
OnLive has also developed a low-cost console, enabling
games to be played on a television. In September 2011,
OnLive expanded to the UK, making it the first overseas
expansion since launching the service in the US in June
2010. Gaikai has partnered with Eurogamer, a leading
consumer game site, to become its first media affiliate in
Europe, enabling gamers to stream Gaikai-powered games
across Europe in local languages.
• The increased penetration of broadband households is a
major driver of online games because the faster speeds
make for a more enjoyable experience. The number of
broadband subscribers in EMEA surpassed the 100-million
mark in 2006, grew to over 170 million in 2011, and is
expected to exceed 240 million by 2016, providing a
strong impetus for the online market.
• Online game revenues rose by 12.1 percent in 2011 to
$4.0 billion. We expect online games during the next five
years to increase by 11.3 percent compounded annually to
$6.8 billion in 2016.
• The UK, the largest market in EMEA, at $802 million
in 2011, will increase at a compound annual rate of
10.1 percent to $1.3 billion in 2016. World of Warcraft is
the most popular MMOG in the UK, as it is in most other
countries in Europe.
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• Russia is second, at $736 million, and is expected to show
the sharpest increase in EMEA, growing by 16.1 percent
compounded annually to $1.6 billion in 2016. The down-
loading of PC games is quite popular in Russia, as is the
downloading of free-to-play MMOGs. In Russia, Facebook
does not have a dominant position; instead, local social
networks, such as VKontakte, are very important.
• France is next, with revenues of $554 million in 2011,
which will grow by 10.3 percent annually to reach
$904 million in 2016. In January 2012, Bouygues Telecom
and Playcast Media partnered to launch a new cloud
gaming service called Bbox games. Bouygues is the first
French telecom company to bring high-profile game
franchises directly to gamers’ TVs with an easy-to-use
interface. Playcast is currently providing a similar service
in Portugal and Spain.
• Germany is the home of Bigpoint and Gameforge, two
rising players in the hybrid free-to-play/pay online market,
a segment led on a worldwide basis by Zynga. Online
revenues are projected to grow to $675 million in 2016,
increasing by 10.1 percent on a compound annual basis
from $417 million in 2011.
• Italy had the fifth-largest online game market, at $364 mil-
lion in 2011, and is expected to show the largest increase
of any country in Western Europe, growing at a compound
annual rate of 13.4 percent to reach $682 million in 2016,
making it the third-largest market in that year. The large
increase is due to strong growth in numbers of broadband
subscribers (the highest gain in Western Europe) combined
with higher penetration of online gamers.
• The Netherlands has one of the most active online markets
in Europe, with revenues of $334 million in 2011 due to its
high broadband penetration, which surpassed 80 percent.
Both MMOGs and casual games are very popular in the
Netherlands and are driving overall spending. Netherlands-
based Spil Games is a global leader in online casual games,
with numerous game sites in 19 languages around the
world and over 4,000 games in its portfolio. A number
of other Dutch companies are developing online game
portals, including Zylom, which delivers casual games to
12 European countries and YoudaGames, which has over
2,000 games on its portal. Online revenues are projected to
reach $452 million in 2016, a 6.2 percent compound annual
increase from their 2011 level.
View data in your local currency. Visit the online Outlook at
www.pwc.com/outlook
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Online game market†
(US$ millions)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Western Europe
Austria 8 11 14 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 8.0
Belgium 11 15 17 19 22 24 25 26 29 31 7.1
Denmark 20 24 28 31 33 37 42 44 46 48 7.8
Finland 8 11 13 15 17 18 21 22 24 25 8.0
France 301 398 462 509 554 620 697 762 835 904 10.3
Germany 257 309 291 371 417 465 511 559 620 675 10.1
Greece 7 8 10 11 11 13 14 15 17 18 10.4
Ireland 54 71 81 89 97 109 121 129 138 146 8.5
Italy 220 259 282 317 364 423 498 563 626 682 13.4
Netherlands 209 243 282 309 334 358 378 401 422 452 6.2
Norway 19 26 30 33 36 40 45 49 52 56 9.2
Portugal 4 7 7 8 10 11 11 11 13 13 5.4
Spain 146 186 214 227 246 267 295 327 362 390 9.7
Sweden 32 46 53 57 64 71 78 85 92 100 9.3
Switzerland 87 113 129 145 162 183 206 224 246 265 10.3
United Kingdom 446 581 674 741 802 898 1,007 1,103 1,203 1,299 10.1
Czech Republic 18 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 35 39 11.1
Hungary 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 10 14.9
Poland 7 10 11 12 13 15 16 18 20 23 12.1
Romania NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA —
Russia 102 151 372 601 736 900 1,064 1,227 1,391 1,555 16.1
Turkey 6 8 10 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 9.1
Central and Eastern
Europe total 136 186 414 648 788 960 1,130 1,300 1,471 1,644 15.8
Middle East/Africa
Israel 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 25 9.3
Middle East/North
Africa (MENA)‡
South Africa 3 6 8 11 14 18 23 28 33 37 21.5
Middle East/
Africa total 11 16 20 25 30 36 43 50 57 62 15.6
EMEA total 1,976 2,510 3,021 3,569 4,002 4,550 5,140 5,689 6,274 6,832 11.3
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Wireless games
• EMEA has a large wireless telephone subscriber base, and
high-speed wireless data technology is also advanced in
much of the region. Western Europe is at the forefront
in the deployment of 3G/4G LTE (Long-Term-Evolution)
technology, which provides wireless high-speed Internet
access comparable to the high-speed access provided
by wired digital subscriber lines. MMOGs are being
developed for the wireless market to take advantage of the
speed of the advanced wireless networks.
• Casual games continue to dominate the market because
they’re quick to learn and easy to play. The most popular
mobile games are single-player board games, puzzles, and
word games. These casual games widen wireless games’
demographic reach.
• Initially, the only games people could play were those
embedded in their phones. Currently, Internet-connected
phones enable additional games to be downloaded either
for free or for a modest fee.
• With emergence of the app stores, such as for Apple
and Android devices, the market for wireless games has
exploded. App stores have thousands of games available
for download. Additionally, app stores improve the
buying experience dramatically over the carriers’ decks by
offering better descriptions, user reviews, and free trials.
Additionally, new forms of payment, such as the iTunes
Account, are facilitating the purchase of games.
• Introduction of the iPad in 2010 and its newer version, the
iPad 2, with its faster A5 processor, is driving the market
because of its large screen, superior graphics, and familiar
ecosystem. In addition to the iPads are many Android
tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the
Sony Tablet S, which are providing a wonderful gaming
experience. And smartphones and tablets have become
substitutes for traditional portable devices like the DS
and PSP.
• In addition to casual games, more-sophisticated games
are being developed for the wireless market. In fact, there
are cloud gaming companies that are delivering console-
quality games to wireless devices. Of course, these games
are much more expensive than typical wireless games
that cost as little as 99 cents. Development costs of these
games are accelerating, causing pressure in a market that
values low-cost games.
• The business model for wireless games is changing.
Originally, the market consisted of onetime payments
for the downloading of games. A growing number of
games are being offered for free, with microtransactions
and advertising providing the requisite revenues for
publishers. Angry Birds, a hugely successful game
worldwide as a paid download, gained even more
followers as a free, advertiser-supported game. By
providing games for free, publishers are able to expand
the number of players and reap their revenues from the
microtransactions. Additionally, exposing people to the
wireless gaming experience increases the likelihood of
these gamers’ also downloading paid games.
• There are a growing number of mobile gamers, both
because of the rising penetration by smartphones and
because the games are significantly cheaper to develop
and hence cost much less than console games. Mobile
gaming provides an enjoyable experience for short periods
of time, as when waiting for a train or bus.
• Wireless penetration in much of EMEA is at a saturation
point, with penetration above 100 percent in many
countries. As a result, future growth will come not from
more wireless subscribers but, rather, from a higher
percentage of subscribers who play games and pay to play
those games. We expect the newer phones and the more-
advanced networks to facilitate that growth.
• We expect the market for wireless games to continue
growing with the increased penetration by smartphones
and tablets. Additionally, the growing variety of games
being developed to take advantage of the features of the
new devices will spur the market. The wireless market in
EMEA is expected to increase 8.4 percent on a compound
annual basis from $1.6 billion in 2011 to $2.4 billion
in 2016.
• The UK is the largest market for wireless gaming in EMEA.
Almost half of the UK’s 8 million mobile gamers pay for
games. As in most other countries, puzzle games, arcade
games, and strategy games are the most-popular types of
mobile games in the UK. Wireless game revenues were
$330 million in 2011 and are projected to increase to
$504 million in 2016, an 8.8 percent compound
annual increase.
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• Wireless game revenues in Spain were $262 million in
2011 and are expected to grow 8.6 percent annually to
reach $396 million by 2016. Mobile gamers in Spain are
spending more per capita on microtransactions than are
mobile gamers in many other Western countries.
• France, with two of the top mobile game publishers,
Gameloft and Zenops, was the third-largest market in
the region, with revenues totaling $234 million. Revenues
are expected to increase by 8.4 percent annually to
$351 million. Games for iPhones and iPads are driving the
revenues for Gameloft, as they are for many of the major
publishers. Adictiz, a French company that makes games
for smartphones and Facebook, developed Paf le Chien,
which is available on both platforms and was the most
downloaded game in France in 2011, garnering over
3 million downloads between the two platforms.
• Wireless game revenues in Germany were relatively low
in 2011, at $51 million. However, as a result of starting
from a very low base, Germany is expected to show the
largest percentage increase in the region, growing by
16.4 percent on a compound annual basis to reach
• Italy has one of the highest numbers of wireless subscri-
bers of any country in Europe. Its wireless game market
was $136 million in 2011 and will increase by 7.6 percent
compounded annually to $196 million in 2016. In 2011,
Italy launched a mobile payment system to make the
purchasing of wireless games easier.
Build personalized data sets by segment, component, and territory.
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Wireless game market†
(US$ millions)
EMEA 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011p 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2012–16
CAGR
Western Europe
Austria 8 11 13 14 14 15 17 18 19 21 8.4
Belgium 11 14 17 18 19 22 24 25 26 28 8.1
Denmark 14 17 18 20 22 24 26 29 31 33 8.4
Finland 6 7 8 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 10.4
France 134 171 192 211 234 256 278 301 326 351 8.4
Germany 36 46 58 47 51 58 67 79 96 109 16.4
Greece 6 7 7 8 10 11 11 11 11 11 1.9
Ireland 58 74 83 93 103 113 124 135 146 157 8.8
Italy 102 114 113 127 136 150 163 174 185 196 7.6
Netherlands 39 51 60 67 75 79 83 88 92 96 5.1
Norway 14 18 20 22 25 27 29 31 33 36 7.6
Portugal 6 7 8 10 11 11 13 13 13 13 3.4
Spain 154 198 221 237 262 285 313 341 369 396 8.6
Sweden 26 32 38 43 46 52 58 64 69 76 10.6
Switzerland 25 33 35 39 43 45 48 52 55 59 6.5
United Kingdom 191 244 273 302 330 361 395 428 465 504 8.8
Western Europe total 830 1,044 1,164 1,268 1,392 1,522 1,663 1,804 1,953 2,104 8.6
Czech Republic 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 10.6
Hungary 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0.0
Poland 8 10 12 14 16 17 19 20 22 24 8.4
Romania NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA —
Russia 66 85 97 108 119 130 141 150 160 170 7.4
Turkey 5 7 8 8 10 10 11 11 11 11 1.9
Central and Eastern
Europe total 93 119 137 153 171 186 203 216 231 246 7.5
Middle East/Africa
Israel 8 12 14 16 18 20 22 23 24 25 6.8
Middle East/North
Africa (MENA)‡
South Africa 17 22 27 30 33 36 39 41 44 46 6.9
Middle East/
Africa total 25 34 41 46 51 56 61 64 68 71 6.8
EMEA total 948 1,197 1,342 1,467 1,614 1,764 1,927 2,084 2,252 2,421 8.4
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Global game industry outlook 2012-2016

Global game industry outlook 2012-2016

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