New data shows gaming revenue has moved almost entirely to digital purchases, at least in Europe, with PC and console purchases dwarfed by mobile gaming. The 2024 All About Video Games report, published earlier this month by Video Games Europe, showed sluggish growth for PC gaming in the EU and signaled the death knell for physical game sales.
According to the report, gaming revenue overall grew 4% in 2024. An overwhelming 90% of that revenue was digital, up 5% from 2023 and bringing physical purchases down to just 10%.
For context, physical purchases made up 20% of European gaming revenue in 2020, meaning physical game sales were cut in half in just four years, including a 5% drop in the last year alone. However, it’s hard to say whether that decline is happening because gamers just prefer digital copies or because fewer games are getting released in physical format.
The shift may also be partly due to the devices people are playing on. The 2024 All About Video Games report showed that mobile gaming accounted for the largest chunk of revenue at 44%, followed by a 38% share for console purchases. PC made up just 15% of gaming revenue in Europe last year, up 1% from 2023. (The remaining 4% was or on-demand/streaming services.)
The slow growth in PC gaming revenue may be due to a 3% drop in the percentage of PC gamers in Europe. In 2023, 46% of gamers reported playing on PC, now down to just 43% in 2024. Meanwhile, console purchases decreased by 3%, despite a 3% increase in the number of Europeans saying they play on consoles.
Basically, PC gaming revenue is up despite fewer people playing on PC while, in the opposite direction, console revenue is down despite more people playing on consoles. The dip in console revenue may have contributed to 2024’s slip in physical game sales, as well.
In addition to revenue data, the All About Video Games report highlighted last year’s top-selling games in Europe: Helldivers 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Command and Conquer Generals, GTA 5, EA FC 25, The Crew 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, EA FC 24, and Command and Conquer (Bundle). Helldivers 2 and Black Ops 6 also took top spots in Steam’s 2024 top sellers rankings.
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