It is said that the gaming industry will not only grow in the next few years, but will also experience changes in the hardware market DFC intelligence – with only two clear winners from three major manufacturers. The research and consulting firm released its annual market report and forecast today. One of the key takeaways is that consumers will only have room for two new gaming consoles in their wallets, while the third will struggle to fit.
Previous DFC reports suggest that 2025 will begin a period of record growth for the gaming industry, and this market report delves deeper into this: it predicts that the industry will recover from the decline of previous years thanks in part to exciting new game and console launches – two of the biggest and most immediate are the new Nintendo console and Grand Theft Auto VI, both predicted for 2025.
The report also shows that the gaming audience will grow with the market itself. DFC predicts that the number of players will increase to 4 billion by 2027, up from around 3.8 billion currently. Most of these 4 billion gamers will be “low revenue,” meaning they won’t spend much money on games. Conversely, the top 10% of gamers will account for 65% of video game revenue over the next few years, the report says.
Two consoles are winners for the next few years
In addition to the growth of the gamer population, DFC also predicts the state of the hardware market in the next few years. The new Nintendo console will be a key growth driver, and the report suggests that it will have an even stronger launch than the Switch, and that many households may purchase multiple devices. This will be part of a larger trend in hardware spending – DFC predicts hardware revenue spending will reach $120 billion in 2028.
However, not every console will have the Nintendo treatment, the report says. Both Sony and Microsoft are likely to release a new console by 2028, but only one is expected to be successful. Since both the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles are completely theoretical at this point, there’s no way to know which of them will be successful. This depends on the features and active install base of the new consoles.
In addition to hardware sales, the report also predicts shifts in gaming sales over the next few years. Additional content and subscription revenue will continue to exceed full game revenue, with single game subscriptions (e.g. MMOs) exceeding those that offer multiple games (e.g. Xbox Game Pass). One of the biggest challenges for gaming companies will be distribution.
David Cole, CEO and founder of DFC Intelligence, said in a statement: “Over the past three decades, the video game industry has grown more than 20-fold, and after two years of declining hardware and software sales, it is poised to bounce back next year “healthy growth” at the end of the decade. While 2025 will mark the start of this upward trend, some big questions remain, including who will lose the next-gen console war and who will win the battle over gaming software distribution. And as major publishers focus on live services around evergreen franchises, there will be plenty of opportunities for smaller studios.”
Source link
