We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Unity claim PC gaming is worth $1 billion more than console

Firewatch

According to Unity, creators of the popular game engine with the same name, global games market revenue puts PC gaming in front of console by $1 billion. Imagine what that much money looks like in a big pile. Imagine the kind of rig you could build. 

Plan to spend more money with our list of upcoming PC games.

PC gaming gets a bit of a bad rep sometimes – whether it’s due to piracy or because some studios treat us like second-rate citizens when it comes to ports – but this data proves that it’s a platform worth investing in.

According to Unity, of $100 billion, PC pulls in $31.9 billion, with a 2.1% increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, console brings in $30.8 billion, though it could slowly catch up, with a 2.2% increase year-on-year.

Mobile dominates, however, boasting a $36.9 billion contribution and a massive 21.3% increase year-on-year. Here’s the graph:

We all know games companies have looked at this data. After all, that’s why so many have taken a punt at delivering something in the mobile arena. Hopefully this slight lead makes more and more publishers decide to invest in delivering the goods on PC.

While we still get the odd horror story (hi, Batman), the quality of PC ports have improved over the years, and the whole PC gaming experience is much more user-friendly, thanks to services like Steam and GOG Galaxy. It looks like Microsoft are finally getting in on their own platform, too, with many of their console exclusives finding their way into our gaming towers. Long may it continue.

Unity themselves boast 45% of the game engine market share, with their closest rivals – presumably Epic’s Unreal engine – sitting at 17%. This is no massive surprise, as it’s a relatively easy-to-use engine that allows for development across all of the major platforms. So whatever the platform split of that $100 billion, Unity will be raking it in.