Market research firm Newzoo have cut their global games forecast for 2018 after a disappointing performance by the mobile gaming sector in the first half of 2018. Consoles, however, are killing it, with the PC market slightly behind.
Newzoo have adjusted their mobile gaming market total value forecast by almost $7 billion, or 13 per cent, blaming it on the "absence of new global blockbusters" and regulatory changes in China. Nevertheless, mobile gaming will account for 47 per cent of the global games market in 2018, which is enough to retain the title of the largest gaming segment.
Their new report also suggests that the mobile gaming market is finally showing signs of slowing down, after years of reporting double digit growth. According to Newzoo's data, "publishers reported mobile revenues of $10.4 billion, a 6.5% drop from the Q1 revenues of $11.1 billion".
Even though PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles are nearing the end of their lifecycles, Sony and Microsoft reported significant console growth across the board, most notably in their respective game subscription services. Nintendo have been doing pretty well too, so Newzoo have adjusted their forecast and they now expect that "the console game market will grow to $38.3 billion (+15.2% YoY), up from [Newzoo's] previous estimate of $34.6 billion".
PC gaming is trudging along fine as well and although Newzoo have increased their forecast here too, it is only a slight increase. The report states that the battle royale craze has been the main driver of both profit and innovation on the platform, as evidenced by some classic titles such as Call of Duty including their own take on the mode, shedding its singleplayer campaign.
Newzoo specifically mentioned Epic's Fortnite: Battle Royale and the game's monetisation strategy, which has worked wonders and is a reliable model for other companies to follow. The game made $ 300 million in 200 days on Apple's iOS alone and the rest of the numbers are just as impressive, if not better.
Newzoo
