In 2022, the computer and video games industry in Germany will have turned over just under 10 billion euros. Although this turnover is just below expectations, it is still at a high level.
At the beginning of this year, it was still predicted that sales of games hardware and software in Germany would exceed the 10 billion euro mark for the first time in 2022, after this target was only narrowly missed in the previous year with 9.756 billion euros.
The data now published by the industry association Game show that it was again not quite enough: The total turnover determined was 9.873 billion euros. A plus of one per cent, which despite the missed record can definitely be seen as positive, because the enormous Corona growth rates of 2019 and 2020 have long since ceased to be an issue.
The sale of games and hardware remained almost unchanged, with the sale of consoles declining slightly – presumably also due to the lack of availability in some cases. In return, more gaming PCs were configured and purchased last year. Revenue from online gaming services also increased by 20 per cent. In-game and in-app purchases account for 70 per cent of revenue, followed by single purchases and subscriptions.
Revenue from online gaming services such as Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch Online or PlayStation Plus increased and this plus is one of the main reasons for the, despite the fading positive Corona effects, solid figures. These services offer network, cloud and subscription services, especially the subscriptions with “flat rate gaming” show strong percentage growth.
The big breakthrough of streaming business models, on the other hand, is still pending, as corporations such as Deutsche Telekom (Magenta Gaming) or Google (Stadia) have discontinued their offerings in recent months. The top dog is currently the cloud gaming service GeForce NOW from our customer NVIDIA, which is currently developing into the go-to service for interested parties through constant further developments.
Even if many still find it hard to believe: the average gamer in Germany is an adult. The average age is 37.9 years, almost 8 out of 10 gamers are of age. The gender distribution remains almost balanced: The share of female players is stable at 48 percent.