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SuperData: Global games market brought in $108.4bn in 2017, PUBG generated $712m

SuperData: Global games market brought in $108.4bn in 2017, PUBG generated $712m

Research firm SuperData has released its findings for the video games market last year, finding it was the biggest year ever for this market. 

The New York-based outfit reports that $108.4bn was generated by the global games market in 2017. Of that figure, $33bn was from PC, roughly 30 per cent of the market last year. 

69 per cent of the PC market was free-to-play titles such as League of Legends, Dungeon Fighter Online, CrossFire, World of Tanks and DOTA 2. 

Europe was the biggest market for premium free-to-play titles, bringing in $3bn, ahead of North America's 42.2bn and Asia's $300,000. 

$712m was made by Playerunknown's Battlegrounds in the eight months it was on shelves during last year and was the highest grossing premium PC game. Second place went to Overwatch, bringing in $382m while Counter-Strike: GO raked in $341m. 

Overall, consumers globally spent $14bn more than in 2016, with this growth primarily coming from mobile titles popular in Asia.

Meanwhile, esports generated $756 in revenue, with the research firm positing that this market will break $1bn in 2018.

And in the burgeoning VR market, price cuts to headsets drove revenue up 37 per cent.

"2017 was the biggest year for digital games and interactive media. Ever," SuperData wrote.

"The new cross-platform digital games landscape and the continued growth of new segments like esports, gaming video content, and virtual reality have led to a dynamic market that shows no signs of slowing. But as with all growing markets, the need for data and insights is great. Learn about the top games, the major advancements, and where these platforms are headed in this new year in review report."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.