France 2023 VG Market: PS5 saves the day, PC tanks

[Cool hand luke]

After two years of shortage, the arrival of substantial stocks of PlayStation 5 consoles boosted French purchases significantly, reaching 6.1 billion euros. However, clouds are looming on the horizon.
"There is a real disconnect between the video game market and the state of the industry," notes James Rebours, president of the Syndicate of Video Game Publishers (Sell). The figures, revealed on Wednesday, regarding French spending in 2023 on games, consoles, controllers, gaming PCs, virtual currencies from mobile games, and other headsets for online gaming, indeed contrast with the waves of layoffs hitting publishers and production studios worldwide. With a 9.9% growth, nearly reaching pre-Covid levels, the French video game market now stands at 6.1 billion euros. The 5-billion-euro mark was surpassed in 2020.

This figure has little in common with the stagnation of the American market (+1% according to Circana) or the modest growth in the United Kingdom (+2.9%). But it can be explained in one word: PlayStation 5. The first two years of the Sony console's life, released at the end of 2020, were marked by insufficient production capacity to meet gamers' strong demand. The Japanese company therefore prioritized its stocks towards the strategic Anglo-Saxon markets at the expense of Europe, where consumers had to show cunning and patience to get their hands on the device.

It wasn't until 2023 that the situation returned to normal in France, where the catch-up effect was spectacular: according to Sell, console purchases soared by 72% in one year, reaching 1 billion euros. It takes us back to 2007, during Nintendo's Wii phenomenon, to find such a level of spending. This growth is almost exclusively due to the PlayStation 5, whose price was exceptionally lowered from 549 to 429 euros during Black Friday to convince the remaining undecided buyers...
The market was also boosted by video game purchases on consoles and PCs, reaching 1.5 billion euros compared to 1.2 billion in 2022 (+25%). The effect is particularly striking on purchases from digital stores integrated into consoles (+46%, reaching 737 million euros), while physical sales in large retail stores resist, a French exception (-1%, at 614 million euros).

Note the PC market shrinking and that it just fell behind mobile, and that even at a single SKU level (i.e. one console vs PC, the 3rd top selling PC game can't even sniff the top 20 console chart).

https://imgur.com/gallery/H3HrSUp

PC is actually worse off than it was in 2018!!! What growth?

 

[Kokoloko]

PC guys spend huge amounts on upgrades and parts but say Ill wait for the game to go on sale…. Weirdos lol

 

[rinzler]

PC is growing by the day, the only market outside of mobile which is and yet it's doomed.

 

[Cool hand luke]

PC is growing by the day, the only market outside of mobile which is and yet it's doomed.

Where is it growing? Estonia? Mongolia? Consoles grew 25% last year in France, PC shrunk 8%

 

[rinzler]

Where is it growing? Estonia? Mongolia? Consoles grew 25% last year in France, PC shrunk 8%

Hmmmm let's look at the planet shall we.

PlayStation 5 same as the PlayStation 4 LTD
Xbox Series selling worse than Xbox One
Steam setting new growth metrics monthly

Bask in that growth lol

 

[Cool hand luke]

PC guys spend huge amounts on upgrades and parts but say Ill wait for the game to go on sale…. Weirdos lol

They do spend a lot on hardware, but less than is spent on console hardware, and much less on games. 8% of total revenue last year was PC game sales. 29% was console game sales. Almost 4:1.

PC is getting soundly beaten by mobile gaming. There's really no hope for it as a platform.

Hmmmm let's look at the planet shall we.



PlayStation 5 same as the PlayStation 4 LTD

Xbox Series selling worse than Xbox One

Steam setting new growth metrics monthly



Bask in that growth lol

"What is a Switch?" for $500, Alex. The question was about growth for PC. Thanks for playing. You got rinsed @rinzler

 

[Bryank75]

Yes, PC has seen several years of decline recently. The only increases being during the lockdowns where companies were buying computers for home use.... so I don't think it makes sense to base future growth potential on that anomaly.

 

[Bryank75]

They do spend a lot on hardware, but less than is spent on console hardware, and much less on games. 8% of total revenue last year was PC game sales. 29% was console game sales. Almost 4:1.

PC is getting soundly beaten by mobile gaming. There's really no hope for it as a platform.


"What is a Switch?" for $500, Alex. The question was about growth for PC. Thanks for playing. You got rinsed @rinzler

Why I often say that gaming would completely collapse without PS and Nintendo consoles doing their thing.

No publishers would survive.

 

[rinzler]

They do spend a lot on hardware, but less than is spent on console hardware, and much less on games. 8% of total revenue last year was PC game sales. 29% was console game sales. Almost 4:1.

PC is getting soundly beaten by mobile gaming. There's really no hope for it as a platform.


"What is a Switch?" for $500, Alex. The question was about growth for PC. Thanks for playing. You got rinsed @rinzler

PC in France makes up nearly 50% against all three console platforms combined. Separate them if you dare lol.

You've lost the plot.

 

[Cool hand luke]

PC in France makes up nearly 50% against all three console platforms combined. Separate them if you dare lol.

You've lost the plot.

What are you babbling about?

Does this look like 50%?


Are you trying to say it's half as big as all three combined?

 

[rinzler]

What are you babbling about?

Does this look like 50%?

https://imgur.com/gallery/H3HrSUp

Are you trying to say it's half as big as all three combined?

Do you even look at your own garbage you post?

 

[Cool hand luke]

Do you even look at your own garbage you post?

So you'll notice here that PC went from 1.46b to 1.43b (shrinking) while PS and Switch went from 2.75 to 3.15 (growth). Thanks for underlining my point, my man.

And you did mean "half as big", not "makes up nearly 50% of all three" which sounds a wee bit more impressive, doesn't it?

What an own goal.

 

[rinzler]

So you'll notice here that PC went from 1.46b to 1.43b (shrinking) while PS and Switch went from 2.75 to 3.15 (growth). Thanks for underlining my point, my man.

What an own goal.

You don't seem to understand that markets do not exist in a vacuum, and it takes three individual platforms lumped together against one to give the illusion of dominance lol.

 

[Cool hand luke]

You don't seem to understand that markets do not exist in a vacuum, and it takes three individual platforms lumped together against one to give the illusion of dominance lol.

I've yet to see a scrap of evidence from you pointing to PC's growth or viability as a platform.

This looks like a dead software market


Note how the 3rd top selling title cannot match the sales of any of the top 20 console games when separated by platform:



Even Xbox made it!

We know the UK is no better

UK 2023 |PS5:1.2m, NSW: 720k, XBS: 650k| PS commands 49% market share/Xbox only 10%. PS5 up 55% and Xbox down 14% Flipbook info added.

Updated 3/7/24 Flipbook info added https://flipbook-livid.vercel.app/deploy/examples/assets/pdf/book.pdf https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-pc-and-console-sales-grew-26-in-2023-uk-annual-report-1 A big year for PS5, but sales drops elsewhere 2.38 million games consoles were sold...

icon-era.com

Where is PC growing?

 

[Yobo]

PC is dying

 

[rinzler]

PC is dying

Yeah, it generated 40 billion in game sales last year while all three console platforms in total generated 53 billion including their consoles, accessories, peripherals and games etc.

Yep, it's dead alright.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Yeah, it generated 40 billion in game sales last year while all three console platforms in total generated 53 billion including their consoles, accessories, peripherals and games etc.

Yep, it's dead alright.

Unlikely, and not on AAA games which is what everyone here is talking about. Anyway, this is the French VG market thread. Shoo.

PC is dying, despite the exuberance and protestations of the steam creamers. They point to Steam's CCUs but it's all hype and no substance. Much like Xbox, PC's fate is sealed. The userbase just doesn't buy AAA games.

 

[rinzler]

Unlikely, and not on AAA games which is what everyone here is talking about. Anyway, this is the French VG market thread. Shoo.

PC is dying, despite the exuberance and protestations of the steam creamers. They point to Steam's CCUs but it's all hype and no substance. Much like Xbox, PC's fate is sealed. The userbase just doesn't buy AAA games.

Yeah I'm not granting you carte blanche to shit all over a platform with half truths, misinformation and straight up lies.

 

[FatKaz]

Écosystème
PC gaming**
-8,5 %

 

[Cool hand luke]

Yeah I'm not granting you carte blanche to shit all over a platform with half truths, misinformation and straight up lies.