The global PC game market saw "surprisingly strong growth in 2010", recording record annual revenue of $16.2 billion, according to new research released by the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA).
The non-profit organisation said the figure represents growth of 20 per cent over 2009’s total.
The data comes from the PCGA’s third annual Horizons report, which was prepared by market research firm DFC Intelligence.
It found that China continues to be the biggest and fastest-growing market for PC gaming, with record 2010 revenue of $4.8 billion.
Mature game markets Korea, Japan, the US, the UK and Germany all showed growth last year too, with combined revenue up 19 per cent to $7.3 billion.
The report forecast that the global PC game business will continue to grow at a pace of nine per cent compound annual growth rate to reach $23 billion by 2014.
Matt Ployhar, an Intel analyst who was appointed PCGA president last December, said of the findings: "The spotlight has definitely shifted back to the PC game market. A few of the biggest factors fuelling this movement are innovative business models making games more accessible with digital distribution, free-to-play, and online; along with game formats embracing the shifts occurring in the evolution of the PC ecosystem to remain more profitable.
"Large game publishers are looking at digital revenue on the PC game platform as one of their key areas of growth and it is clear that the performance of the PC game market in 2010 is resulting in substantial investment money flowing into the PC game business.”
The PCGA lost two of its founding members, Microsoft and Nvidia, late last month, shortly after claiming that PC piracy is on the decline thanks to the emergence of new business models.
DFC Intelligence also said at GDC this week that it expects the European market for digital game content to almost double to €3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) by 2015.