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Germans trade in PC for consoles and cell-phones
Germany, is well known for being one of the largest strong-holds for PC-gaming over here in Europe. Well things have changed...
New data from the 'Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (BIU) shows that the sales of games has risen by 21% over the past year accumulating to a whopping 1.36 billion - miljard in Dutch, but the US folk do have different names for big numbers - which is an absolute highest ever when it comes to game-sales in Germany.
This growth is for a large part due to the increasing popularity of game-consoles. Last year game-sales for consoles have increased by 38% totaling 904 million euros. Cell-phone gaming is also on the rise - this branche has grown 65% totaling 360 million euros.
PC-gaming sales have declined by 3% totaling 458 million euros.
According to the BUI the decline of PC-gaming is caused to the growing popularity of casual gaming and the new target groups for gaming including adults and women.
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Comments
The market expands & splits
The "decline of the PC" is not so much as sales being drastically lower (AFAIK they are, but not so much) - it's more the result of the Wii and the DS being able to activate new customers like those "casual" gamers and exanding the market.
Especially women that would never touch Crysis or other shooters with a pointy stick are interested in "casual games" like the Dr. Kawashima brain trainer. Not only console games for the stationary ones are booming but also the DS is very successful here.
As for PC gamers: They seem to be either a hardened or a downright idiotic bunch in Germany. Examples:
- The long awaited German RPG Gothic 3 was intolerably buggy when brought to market but it had very strong sales in 2007 - dwarfing it's prequels.
- Crysis, another game made in Germany (though in part with international money and help), apparently is not so hot on the shelves but there also is no shortage of people throwing their old systems out to be able to run this hardware-monster.
So we have essentially to different markets now: The casual & party gamers (Eyetoy and Guitar Hero were successful before the Wii) and on the other, smaller end the hardware junkies with their tech demos like Crysis.
take care,
Calibrator