There are 3.7 million gamers around the world in 2023, but console and PC players only make up a fraction of that total number, says analyst firm DFC Intelligence. In fact, the firm says that, as far as “the actual core consumer base” is concerned, that 3.7 billion figure is “fairly meaningless and mainly used for grabbing headlines.”
There are 300 million gamers on consoles and PC
As summarized by GamesIndustry, the DFC Intelligence latest report caleld “Global Game Consumer Market Overview” notes that in truth there are only 300 million “hardware-driven consumers.” By that, they mean people who buy PCs or consoles specifically for gaming. On top of that, it says console gamers are mainly concentrated in North America and Europe.
It just goes to show that the far larger group of gamers are those on mobile devices. In fact, the 3.7 billion figure is close to half the world’s population of about 7.8 billion. That said, 300 million isn’t anything to scoff at, and it means that there’s a lot of room for growth for the PlayStation brand to try and convert mobile gamers into console ones.
Back in 2021, Jim Ryan said that he wished to see “a world where the games that we make at PlayStation can be enjoyed by many tens of millions of people.” With these figures, that’s well within the realm of possibility.
Meanwhile, PS5 sales in the UK have almost doubled in the first few months of 2023. Sales of the PS5 and PS4 versions of Resident Evil 4 Remake have also outperformed those on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
