GamesIndustry.biz published an annual infographic dedicated to the Gaming industry 2023. In it, experts gathered statistics from analytical companies Newzoo, Sensor Tower, GfK, and Circana, as well as the Famitsu edition, to record the key trends in the industry.

Revenue and Sales of Gaming industry 2023

  • As of November 2023, video game market sales totaled $184 billion, up 0.6% from a year earlier.
  • Mobile games accounted for 49% of total sales, console games accounted for 29%, PC games accounted for 21%, and browser-based PC games accounted for 1%.
  • Digital game revenue totaled $174.5 billion, up 0.8% from the prior year. Revenue from physical editions was $9.5 billion, down 3.8% from a year earlier.
  • Digital editions accounted for 95% of all game sales. On PC, the figure was 99%, and 83% on consoles.
  • Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game in the US and UK. In Japan, the leader was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Evaluations

  • The most highly rated games of 2023 on Metacritic were Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – their average rating was 96 points out of 100. The third line is occupied by VR-action Asgard’s Wrath 2 – 94 points out of 100.
  • The worst game on Metacritic was The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which received a rating of 34 points out of 100. Meanwhile, Skull Island: Rise of Kong scored 23 out of 100, and The Walking Dead: Destinies received 29 out of 100, but those games have fewer than seven reviews.

Media and social media mentions

  • Starfield was the most frequently mentioned game in the media, with 53,097 stories, up 410% from a year ago.
  • The top five games with the highest number of media mentions also included Diablo IV – 51,363, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 39,330, Fortnite – 28,503 and Cyberpunk 2077 – 25,853.
  • Among gaming divisions and companies, the leader in terms of media mentions was Xbox, with 308,834 articles. PlayStation was second with 268,085, and Nintendo was third with 244,424.
  • Fortnite has become the most popular game on TikTok. Its videos have gained 2.9 billion views. Grand Theft Auto V is in second place with 2.8 billion, and Roblox is in third place with 1.8 billion.

Trailers

  • The most viewed trailer of 2023 was the announcement trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, which had 101.6 million views.
  • The top five were Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III – 38.5 million, League of Legends – 31.1 million, Honkai Star Rail – 23.3 million, and Marathon – 20.6 million views.

Mobile Games

  • Tencent was the leader among publishers of mobile games, where people spent the most money – 7.08 billion dollars. Activision Blizzard was in second place, with 2.46 billion dollars.
  • The leader in terms of players’ spending among mobile games was Honor of Kings – 2.48 billion dollars. The second place was occupied by PUBG Mobile, which was 1.65 billion dollars, and the third was occupied by Genshin Impact, which was 1.3 billion dollars.
  • Garena Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game, with 210 million downloads. Subway Surfers and Roblox were also in the top three.
  • Among games released in 2023, Monopoly Go took the top spot regarding downloads and player spending.
Gaming industry 2023 in numbers

Sales leaders for the Gaming industry 2023

US

  • Hogwarts Legacy
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
  • Madden NFL 24
  • Diablo IV
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
  • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
  • Mortal Kombat 1
  • Starfield

UK (retail)

  • Hogwarts Legacy
  • EA Sports FC 24
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder
  • FIFA 23
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
  • Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
  • God of War Ragnarök

Japan (retail)

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder
  • Pikmin 4
  • Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  • Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
  • Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru!
  • Splatoon 3
  • Final Fantasy XVI [PS5]
  • Super Mario RPG

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