The global games market value has grown over ten percent in 2018, rising to $134.9 billion for the year. Nearly half of that value is from mobile devices, with smartphones reaching revenues of $50 billion.
Newzoo, a market research organization, published their report on the global games market value earlier this week. The $134.9 billion total is a 10.9 percent year-over-year increase from 2017, which had a market value of $116 billion. Mobile accounted for 47 percent of industry revenue, at $63.2 billion for the year. Tablet gaming accounted for $11.4 billion in revenue, and for 10 percent of the overall video games market. Mobile is up 12.8 percent over 2017 numbers.
Console gaming saw the biggest growth in 2018, with a 15.2 percent increase in revenue over 2017. The console space generated a full $38.3 billion, although Newzoo expects revenue from consoles to slow next year. Partly because Sony and Microsoft have started preparing for the next generation of consoles.
PC continues to do well, accounting for one out of every four dollars spent on video games. PC is also where the most options exist, with boxed, downloadable, and browser games all vying for attention. Revenues are reported at $33.4 billion for the PC space, up 3.2 percent over 2017.
Newzoo attributes much of the PC growth to the burgeoning battle royale genre. Fortnite has led the charge in that regard, raking in billions for Epic Games and seeing competitors rush to claim their stake. Fortnite‘s battle pass system is key to the revenue growth, and other companies have followed suit. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is one such imitator, except its still a major player in its own right.
Red Dead Redemption 2, and Black Ops 4 are two of a number of immensely successful third-party releases from this year. Both games have sold millions, with Red Dead selling 15 million copies in 8 days. Other titles like Far Cry 5 and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey sold millions of copies each as well.
Sony first-party games also performed remarkably this year. God of War sold over nine million copies by September. Spider-Man sold 3.3 million copies in its first three days on the market, beating God of War‘s 3.1 million record from earlier in the year.
The games industry continues to grow in nearly every aspect. Big games like Fortnite and Red Dead Redemption 2, along with mobile juggernauts like Pokemon Go and Candy Crush Saga, continue to bolster the market value of the games industry.
