PC game sales

What do pc game sales figures look like compared to console sales figures? I know that games like WoW must sell into their tens of millions, but what about multiplats like MW2? I know the ps3 and the 360 versions usually sell in similar quantities, but iv'e never seen the pc version of these games figures in any reports. Would the sales be higher or lower or in and around the same???

for FPS games, it's probably lower than the 360 sales, and higher than the PS3 ones

A lot, Steam sells games like hot pancakes.rcignoni

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total PC game sales.

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]A lot, Steam sells games like hot pancakes.markinthedark

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total video game sales.

Also note, that NPD research was from 2008, it's probably more like 25% now.

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]A lot, Steam sells games like hot pancakes.darknessdashinf

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total video game sales.

got a link for that? google isnt giving me any hits...

Read this : http://www.gizmag.com/pc-games-digital-distribution/15820/

You don't see sales often because digital distribution is untrackable right now. I have heard rumors that someone is going to start tracking the digital distribution market soon, but I am not sure myself.

PC retail is shrinking (still kind of big/moderate at some stores), but it is made up by digital distribution. It is easier for people to purchase PC games online if there are no PC stores or any video game stores in general around for a certain individual.

Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing: by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

What do pc game sales figures look like compared to console sales figures? I know that games like WoW must sell into their tens of millions, but what about multiplats like MW2? I know the ps3 and the 360 versions usually sell in similar quantities, but iv'e never seen the pc version of these games figures in any reports. Would the sales be higher or lower or in and around the same???

iano-87

Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing: by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

RyuRanVII

That's all from MMO dude. Most of the PC sales are overseas in U.K., Korea and other Asian countries. PC gaming sales aren't that high in the states. The way they analyzed the PC market compared to the console market is way off. Yes the PC user base is easily higher then game consoles, but the number of people using them for games is a small fraction and it's even smaller for people who are actually physically purchasing PC games or doing DD games. Going by how many graphic cards that are sold is ridiculous. All graphic cards are not used for gaming, so you can't go specifically off of that. PC gaming has grown some over the past 3-4 yrs, but it's not going to own 56% of the market by 2013 unless one of the big 3 pulls the plug on the Wii, PS3 or XBox 360. PC's biggest strength in gaming is online games being played off of Facebook and other community websites. All there are tons of free MMO type games out there now and they are growing. Still, console and handheld gaming is still growing faster. The 3DS will prove this next year.

Unless the publishers give numbers we will never know, DD sales are not tracked and Steam never seems to release them.

I think its quite possible many games have sold alot more units on PC than consoles, when games like Dead Space, GTA4 and Mass Effect were being sold for £5 on Steam multiple times, but that doesn't mean they have made more money.

Read this : http://www.gizmag.com/pc-games-digital-distribution/15820/

millerlight89

after rereading the pachter thing he seems to be including console games sales as i missed the part where he included xbox live... so those numbers are off.

and the link you posted apparently counts"Casual Digital Retailers"... which presumably make 100% of their sales online... so i dont think the NPD numbers would be accurate in terms of traditional video game sales.

so nm, ill keep looking for a better source. :P

Retail PC copies accounted for about 3% of Modern Warfare 2 sales (nearly 170,000) when it debuted in November. The other 97% were Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales (more than 6 million). [link]

"In 2009, digital downloads of PC games approached the same sales numbers as those of boxed copies at retail, says a report from market research firm NPD Group." [link] Optimistically, we can double those MW2 numbers to include digital download sales, bringing the total number of copies sold that month to perhaps ~340,000. These are U.S. sales numbers, though, so other regions are almost certainly different.

[QUOTE="RyuRanVII"]

Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing: by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

blackace

Retail PC copies accounted for about 3% of Modern Warfare 2 sales (nearly 170,000) when it debuted in November. The other 97% were Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales (more than 6 million). [link]

"In 2009, digital downloads of PC games approached the same sales numbers as those of boxed copies at retail, says a report from market research firm NPD Group." [link] Optimistically, we can double those MW2 numbers to include digital download sales, bringing the total number of copies sold that month to perhaps ~340,000. These are U.S. sales numbers, though, so other regions are almost certainly different.

SakusEnvoy

That part doesn't even make sense.

Just because 50% of PC sales are digitally distributed wouldn't mean that every game sold is 50/50 down the middle.

[QUOTE="blackace"][QUOTE="RyuRanVII"]

Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing: by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

RyuRanVII

[QUOTE="SakusEnvoy"]

Retail PC copies accounted for about 3% of Modern Warfare 2 sales (nearly 170,000) when it debuted in November. The other 97% were Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales (more than 6 million). [link]

"In 2009, digital downloads of PC games approached the same sales numbers as those of boxed copies at retail, says a report from market research firm NPD Group." [link] Optimistically, we can double those MW2 numbers to include digital download sales, bringing the total number of copies sold that month to perhaps ~340,000. These are U.S. sales numbers, though, so other regions are almost certainly different.

Raymundo_Manuel

That part doesn't even make sense.

Just because 50% of PC sales are digitally distributed wouldn't mean that every game sold is 50/50 down the middle.

If each game pirated was counted as a sale then dude it would higher by tenfold.... Still i'm betting they are definitely comparible namely to the length games stay in season for on PC not like the one-hit wonders on consoles... "Woot our game sold 3mill in its first month..."

one week later - "Our sales are down by 60% oh no!"...

[QUOTE="RyuRanVII"]

[QUOTE="blackace"] That's all from MMO dude. Most of the PC sales are overseas in U.K., Korea and other Asian countries. PC gaming sales aren't that high in the states.blackace

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]A lot, Steam sells games like hot pancakes.markinthedark

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total PC game sales.

Study: PC Software Sales Up 3% To $13.1 Billion In 2009

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a non-profit PC gaming advocacy group, revealed a new research study indicating that PC gaming software revenues worldwide reached $13.1 billion in 2009, a 3 percent increase over the previous year.

That increase came in spite of decreased retail boxed sales for PC games, which suffered the "biggest downturn" out of all the sales categories PCGA tracked and now accounts for less than 20 percent of total software revenue for the year.

In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online.

"The most notable trend in recent years has been the movement to digital distribution" says PCGA president and Intel director Randy Stude.

[QUOTE="SakusEnvoy"]

Retail PC copies accounted for about 3% of Modern Warfare 2 sales (nearly 170,000) when it debuted in November. The other 97% were Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales (more than 6 million). [link]

"In 2009, digital downloads of PC games approached the same sales numbers as those of boxed copies at retail, says a report from market research firm NPD Group." [link] Optimistically, we can double those MW2 numbers to include digital download sales, bringing the total number of copies sold that month to perhaps ~340,000. These are U.S. sales numbers, though, so other regions are almost certainly different.

Raymundo_Manuel

That part doesn't even make sense.

Just because 50% of PC sales are digitally distributed wouldn't mean that every game sold is 50/50 down the middle.

thats true especially since NPD is counting casual game sales that are 100% digital distribution... it would be presumably much lower for a game also available at retail.

[QUOTE="RyuRanVII"]

[QUOTE="blackace"] That's all from MMO dude. Most of the PC sales are overseas in U.K., Korea and other Asian countries. PC gaming sales aren't that high in the states.blackace

Does it need to be bigger than all three? Isn´t the fact that it has the biggest chunk of the market and it´s expected to be even bigger by 2013?

Also,you don´t know if they are including(or not) xbl and psn games,so you´re pretty much guessing as well.

NPD is **** It's only US retail sales, and even then, some of the major retailers (read the ones that still sell PC games) aren't included like Walmart and amazon.

So you're missing the world wide sales, where PC is strongest, the US retail market where PC is strongest, AND digital downloads, which according to the latest (non NPD stats) accounts for over %50 of sales.

Or in other words, we don't really know.

All we do know is that the amount sold is enough to keep publishers and developers putting out PC multi-plats. So whatever it is, it's not small.

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]A lot, Steam sells games like hot pancakes.devious742

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total PC game sales.

Study: PC Software Sales Up 3% To $13.1 Billion In 2009

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a non-profit PC gaming advocacy group, revealed a new research study indicating that PC gaming software revenues worldwide reached $13.1 billion in 2009, a 3 percent increase over the previous year.

That increase came in spite of decreased retail boxed sales for PC games, which suffered the "biggest downturn" out of all the sales categories PCGA tracked and now accounts for less than 20 percent of total software revenue for the year.

In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online.

"The most notable trend in recent years has been the movement to digital distribution" says PCGA president and Intel director Randy Stude.

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

[QUOTE="devious742"]

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

thats a myth:

"At first glance, it may seem like the digital alternative is quickly surmounting retail sales, but it's not that simple. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush MorganSecurities, downloads are probably $1 to $2 billion in global sales this year, compared to the $26 billion packaged goods market. While downloads are growing – and growing fast – there simply aren't enough of them to account for the fall in retail sales."

http://www.techspot.com/news/35648-digital-game-sales-booming-as-retail-continues-descent.html

direct downloads are a very, very small portion of sales... as we can see they are about 3.8-7.6% of total PC game sales.

markinthedark

Study: PC Software Sales Up 3% To $13.1 Billion In 2009

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a non-profit PC gaming advocacy group, revealed a new research study indicating that PC gaming software revenues worldwide reached $13.1 billion in 2009, a 3 percent increase over the previous year.

That increase came in spite of decreased retail boxed sales for PC games, which suffered the "biggest downturn" out of all the sales categories PCGA tracked and now accounts for less than 20 percent of total software revenue for the year.

In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online.

"The most notable trend in recent years has been the movement to digital distribution" says PCGA president and Intel director Randy Stude.

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

[QUOTE="devious742"]

Study: PC Software Sales Up 3% To $13.1 Billion In 2009

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a non-profit PC gaming advocacy group, revealed a new research study indicating that PC gaming software revenues worldwide reached $13.1 billion in 2009, a 3 percent increase over the previous year.

That increase came in spite of decreased retail boxed sales for PC games, which suffered the "biggest downturn" out of all the sales categories PCGA tracked and now accounts for less than 20 percent of total software revenue for the year.

In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online.

"The most notable trend in recent years has been the movement to digital distribution" says PCGA president and Intel director Randy Stude.

devious742

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

[QUOTE="devious742"]

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

markinthedark

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

Sega: PC sales are stronger than reported

Growing digital sales mean that the charts don't tell the full PC games story

Publishing giant Sega has defended PC gaming, calling it a strong and vital market for the games industry.

Physical retail sales of PC games are continuing to slide in 2010, but Sega's UK MD John Clark says that isn't a fair representation of the market – with digital sales now accounting for a large proportion of revenue.

"The PC market is third in terms of its year-on-year performance with a decline of 26 per cent, but this doesn't really reflect the full picture," said Clark.

"The PC digital download business is now a viable sector but somewhat invisible as it's not yet covered by Chart-Track. The PC market overall is actually performing much better than is currently reported and remains a vital and strong sector to be involved in."

Sega was the second biggest UK PC publisher in 2009, with 12 per cent share of the market.

Meanwhile, year-to-date in 2010 the company has a 12.8 per cent share of the PC games sector. This was boosted by the strong performance last month of Aliens vs Predator, Napoleon: Total War, as well as continued sales of Football Manager 2010.

"Last month's PC chart illustrates Sega's position within this sector," added Clark.

"Napoleon: Total War, Football Manager 2010 and Aliens vs Predator are three different **** of game from three different genres. They can all drive a strong, community fan base with the ability to consistently deliver endless hours of gameplay. Incidentally, they are all developed in the UK.

"For 2009, Sega was ranked the second biggest PC publisher in the market. In 2010 year-to-date, we are once again ranked second. Long may it continue."

;)

[QUOTE="devious742"]

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

markinthedark

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

some of Steam sales percentage of sales increase:

• 10 percent sale = 35 percent increase in sales
• 25 percent sale = 245 percent increase in sales
• 50 percent sale = 320 percent increase in sales
• 75 sale sale = 1470 percent increase in sales

When left 4 dead had a steam sale it Increased the sales 3000% and beat launch numbers.http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57308

[QUOTE="devious742"]

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

yea i already stated i was wrong and the pachter quote was probably in reference to all video games sales and not just PC.

another funny little tidbit from your article though "The report's surveys indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents have bought a virtual item. "

so apparently over half the people surveyed were MMO players.

markinthedark

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

thus everyone is eating a hot dog right now;)

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

[QUOTE="devious742"] lol trying to dismiss the facts I see;) while in the same article this was said:D

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

devious742

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

thus everyone is eating a hot dog right now;)

not everyone, just 70% ;)

You don't see sales often because digital distribution is untrackable right now. I have heard rumors that someone is going to start tracking the digital distribution market soon, but I am not sure myself.

PC retail is shrinking (still kind of big/moderate at some stores), but it is made up by digital distribution. It is easier for people to purchase PC games online if there are no PC stores or any video game stores in general around for a certain individual.

Valiant_Rebel

Some of you really overestimate digital sales. Steam isn't the only digital distributor and I think Valve sells more copies of their games at retail because that include console versions. bonzibuddyxxx

[QUOTE="bonzibuddyxxx"]Some of you really overestimate digital sales. Steam isn't the only digital distributor and I think Valve sells more copies of their games at retail because that include console versions. Captain__Tripps

Usually when a company releases pc and console version, the console version sells more.

[QUOTE="Captain__Tripps"][QUOTE="bonzibuddyxxx"]Some of you really overestimate digital sales. Steam isn't the only digital distributor and I think Valve sells more copies of their games at retail because that include console versions. bonzibuddyxxx

Usually when a company releases pc and console version, the console version sells more.

[QUOTE="Captain__Tripps"][QUOTE="bonzibuddyxxx"]Some of you really overestimate digital sales. Steam isn't the only digital distributor and I think Valve sells more copies of their games at retail because that include console versions. bonzibuddyxxx

Usually when a company releases pc and console version, the console version sells more.

[QUOTE="blackace"]

[QUOTE="RyuRanVII"] Read the article and take a look at the graphic. About 40% of PC sales are from MMO subscriptions and F2P microtransactions (which are still PC gaming money). The remaining 60% are from traditional game sales (both retail and digital distribution), and it's still bigger than the Wii, the most profitable console out there.

testfactor888

Yeah I will believe the link RyuRanVII put up until you provide proof to back up your accusations

This is just the US Market for 2009, but you can see the difference in software sales between PC and consoles. It's like night and day.

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100114.html

This is directly from NPD website, not a blog site. lol!! 10.5 billion -vs- $538 million.

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

[QUOTE="devious742"] lol trying to dismiss the facts I see;) while in the same article this was said:D

"In its surveys of PC gamers in North America and Europe, the report found that 70 percent of respondents have purchased a full game online."

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

some of Steam sales percentage of sales increase:

• 10 percent sale = 35 percent increase in sales
• 25 percent sale = 245 percent increase in sales
• 50 percent sale = 320 percent increase in sales
• 75 sale sale = 1470 percent increase in sales

When left 4 dead had a steam sale it Increased the sales 3000% and beat launch numbers.http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57308

[QUOTE="testfactor888"][QUOTE="blackace"] It's not bigger then all three consoles conbined and I doubt they even included the handheld games or PSN / XBL game sales. They're figures are way off. They are pretty much guessing.

blackace

Yeah I will believe the link RyuRanVII put up until you provide proof to back up your accusations

This is just the US Market for 2009, but you can see the difference in software sales between PC and consoles. It's like night and day.

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100114.html

This is directly from NPD website, not a blog site. lol!! 10.5 billion -vs- $538 million.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Valve's marketing vice president and frequent spokesman, Doug Lombardi

Lombardi pointed out that the sales data often cited to buttress claims of a dying PC industry do not include MMOG subscribers, Steam users, other customers of digital download services, or even other countries.

"NPD, god love 'em, they release a U.S. retail sales report, and people take that and say that's the world picture. And it's just not true...if people were looking at WoW's subscriptions alone and factoring it in, looking at Steam sales and factoring it in...Just look at what Popcap's doing - Bejeweled and Peggle and all this stuff - they're not in that NPD data."

link

[QUOTE="markinthedark"]

probably a full WoW expansion ;)

some of Steam sales percentage of sales increase:

• 10 percent sale = 35 percent increase in sales
• 25 percent sale = 245 percent increase in sales
• 50 percent sale = 320 percent increase in sales
• 75 sale sale = 1470 percent increase in sales

When left 4 dead had a steam sale it Increased the sales 3000% and beat launch numbers.http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57308

[QUOTE="Captain__Tripps"][QUOTE="bonzibuddyxxx"]Some of you really overestimate digital sales. Steam isn't the only digital distributor and I think Valve sells more copies of their games at retail because that include console versions. bonzibuddyxxx

Usually when a company releases pc and console version, the console version sells more.

[QUOTE="bonzibuddyxxx"]

[QUOTE="Captain__Tripps"] Valve has said that their PC games now sell more on Steam than retail. But PC retail is still pretty big, probably 50% of the market at least. Valve has also never released Steam numbers for their PC game, so whether the console version sell more, nobody could really say.SAGE_OF_FIRE

Usually when a company releases pc and console version, the console version sells more.

All I could find were UK numbers after a quick search [link]. Over there, 84% of sales were for the console versions (53% for 360, 31% for PS3), 16% for PC. And as usual I don't think NPD thought it sold well enough to even acknowledge the PC version's existence [link].

I couldn't find a source proving that Metro 2033 sold more on PC, but in that particular rare circumstance I could see it going either way. It was released on only one console, the 360 version was obviously inferior and PC gamers really hyped it up, and Europe accounted for over two-thirds of sales. Still, all I could find was THQ saying "A lot of the sales were done on PC". [link]