14 DAY TRIAL // A new report coming from Jon Peddie Research is saying that the ongoing world wide economic recession is at the moment affecting the PC gaming market, but only marginally, and that the segment is still strong, with growth expected to be “healthy” in the coming years.
The study from Jon Peddie Research states that the amount of money pumped by consumers into the PC gaming market will be 2 billion bigger in 2009 than that spent on console gaming, including the money spent on accessories, HDTVs and the consoles themselves.
It's worth noting that the study from JPR is taking into account hardware for the most part, showing how much has been spent on hardware that can then be used to play videogames. PC gaming hardware consumer spending is set to be on the rise in 2011, when it reaches 28.91 billion dollars, and in 2012, getting up to 30.67 billion dollars. So far from being dead, the PC gaming scene is actually increasing, as far as value of hardware is concerned.
The study states that “people are staying home more, less movies, less dinners out, postponed vacations, and turning to other forms of entertainment. PC gaming is a very economical form of entertainment. A $50 game can provide hundreds of hours of play, and it's not uncommon for players to replay a game.”
JPR is also emphasizing the way a home computer is more of a multimedia platform than most gaming consoles, as users can switch out playing videogames in order to use the Internet, watch movies or listen to music. Gaming consoles are trying to show off the same capabilities, with the New Xbox Experience being specifically designed to allow movie watching and more social activities, but the install base for home computers is way bigger than that for gaming consoles.