14 DAY TRIAL // PricewaterhouseCoopers is advancing the figure as part of a study which looks at the way entertainment and media will evolve in the next five years. The actual figure might be even bigger than estimated, especially as the study seems to only take into consideration the actual sales of videogames and does not account for the sales of gaming related hardware. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the market will grow by more than 10% during each year.
By comparison, in 2007, the NPD Group reported that 19 billion worth of videogames and videogame related hardware was sold in the United States alone. Even the figures from the NPD might be on the low side of estimations, as they do not account for downloadable content, revenue derived from subscription based MMOs. Mobile games are not taken into consideration.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also breaks the growth of the videogame markets by type of games. The console segment, with the Nintendo Wii in the lead and the PlayStation 3, plus the Xbox 360 in close pursuit, will go from almost 25 billion in 2007 to 35 billion in 2012. The bad news is that direct PC revenue is estimated to fall by 1.2% every year, going from 3.8 billion to 3.6 billion.
PricewaterhouseCoopers does not take into account MMO revenue when it comes to the PC market. In 2007, the MMO market segment brought in revenue of 6.6 billion dollars, which is expected to at least double and reach 14.4 billion dollars in 2012. The company that is expected to lead the sector is Blizzard, which will continue to draw significant revenue from its World of Warcraft MMO.
All the projected increase in the videogame market comes amid speculation that the economy in the United States and worldwide will continue to stagnate, as fuel prices grow and the credit crunch continues. Ironically, more staying at home might actually increase revenue for the industry, as driving gives way to gaming.