The Insane Amount Of Money PC Gaming Made In 2016

Steam Controller
(Image credit: Valve)

When it comes to PC hardware, a lot of times the data about just how effective it is on the market is underplayed and undervalued. However, new stats from a market research firm shows just the insane amount of money the PC gaming market made in 2016.

Gamespot did a quick rundown of the numbers based on a report from Jon Peddie Research, which was originally covered over on Game Informer. JPR noted that in 2016 PC gaming set a new record in hardware sales, accruing $30 billion in global revenue. They're expecting a 6% CAGR through 2019.

They released a chart indicating that $6.6 billion was spent on casual entry-level hardware. That would likely include pre-built PCs, productivity laptops, and OEM bundles. $10 billion was spent on mid-range hardware, and the largest piece of the pie with 43% of the market valuation goes to the high-end market, who spent $13 billion on hardware.

The revenue accounted for everything from pre-built PCs to custom made gaming rigs to audio hardware, dedicated GPUs, controllers such as the Steam Controller, accessories such as headphones and monitors.

(Image credit: Valve)

The Asia-Pacific market, particularly Southeast Asia, was the leader in terms of sales, making up for $11.3 billion of the $30 billion total.

One of the reasons Southeast Asia makes so much is due to the e-sports scene over there. It's huge.

Games like StarCraft II, Overwatch, Dota 2 and League of Legends dominate the charts. A lot of gamers play to compete on a professional level (or at least hope to attain that dream one day), and so there's a very different atmosphere in some of the regions compared to gaming in the States or in the U.K. It's also quite a dichotomy compared to how the government in places like South Korea view gaming, in which they see it as one of the "four evils" of society, alongside gambling, alcohol and porn.

The crazy part about it is that despite all of these restrictions, the Southeast Asian territories still generate crazy amounts of money in gaming both in terms of hardware and software, as indicated in multiple market reports, such as the one from Newzoo.

PC gaming has been lambasted over the years as "dying", but the reality is that just the opposite is happening. Core gaming is surging strong on the PC platform and a lot of that is because it's easier and cheaper now than it's ever been to get into PC gaming.

Previously gamers were nervous because they thought PC gaming was this complicated, maze of a beast. But the reality is that most PC hardware these days are plug-and-play compatible. Most of the software is also automated and drivers are updated automatically. PC gaming has been simplified to the point where you install Steam and you can just tap the home button on the Steam controller and it'll take you to the gaming menu where you can pick and choose what you want to play without worrying about fetching drivers, fishing for installation guides or trying to maneuver around setting up the system.

The ease of use, constantly growing library of diverse games and dwindling prices on hardware has all contributed to PC gaming being bigger than ever, and the JPR report seems to indicate that the PC market won't be slowing down any time soon.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.