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Ampere Analysis data reveals that the 2022 global console gaming market declined by 7.8%* (constant currency -2.1%) to $56.2bn, down from $60.9bn in 2021. The potential for better performance in 2022 was undermined by the lack of availability of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X console hardware and some major games releases being delayed into 2023 and later. However, market performance remains 18% ahead of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

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Sony continues to lead the global console market with a 45% share of total console hardware, games and services spending across PlayStation consoles. This is a 1.3% fall from 2021, which Microsoft claimed. Nintendo shed 0.5% share, while Microsoft’s share grew from 25.5% to 27.3% as spending on Xbox console hardware and console-based Game Pass services grew. Sony retains a commanding position in the console market due to sales of its relatively expensive PlayStation 5 hardware, the ongoing scale of its service business and much greater in-game monetisation across games available on PlayStation consoles versus Nintendo’s.

Microsoft and Nintendo had a very similar global market share of spending on console gaming in 2022. With Nintendo’s Switch now in decline, Microsoft can match Nintendo’s share primarily due to the strength of its console services business, which generated almost four times the spending compared to Nintendo’s Switch Online services.

PlayStation 5 reaches 30 million installed base; Xbox Series 18.5 million Sales of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X were held back in 2022 due to a lack of availability. Microsoft’s dual product strategy for its Xbox Series devices, which include the lower specification and more readily available Series S, means that it was able to maximise some of Sony’s supply chain challenges and marginally increase its share of unit sales over the year. However, the level of demand for Series S during the holiday season, even with pricing promotions, suggests that it does not have the high-end pull of its bigger brother.

The sales gap between PlayStation and Xbox unit sales will widen in H1 2023 Availability of PlayStation 5 improved towards the end of the year, especially in the US, and global stock has been much more regularly available in 2023. Ampere expects the gap between PlayStation and Xbox unit sales to widen in the first half of 2023, with Xbox Series X only becoming more consistently available in the second half of the year. Nintendo’s Switch ended 2022 with an installed base of 119.5m, surpassing PlayStation 4’s installed base during the year. Ampere currently expects the next generation of Nintendo consoles to launch towards the end of 2024.

Services are the bright spot as spending on premium content falls by 9% Spending on console subscription services was the one area of growth in 2022, increasing 5.6% (10.9% in constant currency) to reach $7.8bn. Global subscription volume was down YOY but the multi-tiered service strategy of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo meant that average spending per subscription grew 7% across the year (in $ terms) as consumers traded up to more expensive tiers. Microsoft extended its market share lead in the console subscription segment and delivered an all-time high for Xbox Game Pass subscribers in the final three months of the year.

The weakest area of monetisation was in-game and downloadable content, which fell almost 15% (10% in constant currency) as the market re-acclimatised to more normal post-pandemic consumer behaviour and the macroeconomic backdrop began to bite. Premium game sales also declined in volume and value. While games sales volume was down 7% year-on-year, some of this drop was mitigated by higher average sales prices.

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Comments (12)

kuribo

1y ago

What’s the unit of measurement for the % market share? Dollars or units of consoles and games?


gamefreak613

1y ago

@kuribo

I was thinking the same question. It's a big factor in how I view the charts!


That charts footnote does say “Console gaming market defined as a combined total of console hardware, console games content and console subscriptions” but given how many consoles Nintendo sold in 2021 and 2022 compared to Sony and Microsoft its not entirely clear how those percentages are calculated.


tendonin

1y ago

I’m used to seeing market share reported in terms of hardware sales. Seeing it reported in terms of all revenue sources is definitely interesting and instructive. Though I do worry people will misinterpret it and not bother to analyze where the company’s individual strengths are.

Switch is definitely past its peak, which is about as bold a claim as saying a person in their 60’s with grey hair is aging. A new console in 2024 makes sense, but I need to see evidence beyond market circumstances.

Edited 3 times

socar

1y ago

Expecting Nintendo to release a new console in 2024 is not something that's realistic.

For Nintendo they are fine the way they are right now because the PS5 and Series X aren't hybrids. And the data still isn't clear. Also, PS5 scalping is a thing still incase you are wondering.

It would be foolish for Nintendo to release their next gen console next year knowing that there is still a lot they can do with the Switch.

Edited 1 time

bakfug

1y ago

@socar

How is it not realistic? Reports are saying the chipset for new hardware has been in development for a while, first party output is clearly slowing down, hardware is trending down worldwide, hardware that is struggling with even first party titles recently, and it will have been 7+ years next year which is the largest gap between Nintendo systems ever.

The only thing that people counter with is that it's selling so well. But believe it or not, if it releases next year, it still has a full year and a half to sell more. And late adopters do not care about new hardware and will just buy the older, cheaper one anyway , and the two platforms will coexist for an amount of time, giving the original Switch easily 2+ more years of shelf life to keep selling. It will slow down significantly in 2 years when third parties can't target the platform anymore due to hardware limitations and first party games are few and far between, so between that and a chipset being manufactured in 2022, it would be a huge waste of both goodwill and resources to sit on new hardware for that long while the other consoles take away more and more market share.


socar

1y ago

@bakfug

So what happens if the new hardware can't outdo what the Switch did? What if its the next Wii U scenario? What does Nintendo do to support both those who just bought the Switch and the next gen console? All of these Nintendo has to figure out on their own. This is the mistake they did with the Wii as all they had to do was just put in a Wii HD and still get more games to it but nope..instead they announced a next console that was suppose to be part of the Wii brand but didn't do anywhere close to the Wii. They are therefore deciding to just watch carefully on when to decide to release the next console.

The problem is that their competition is not on the handheld market unlike Nintendo who just did the hybrid that does both home and portable gaming. And the fact that the Switch sales in famitsu are still strong that its at a point that even third parties are making a lot of money on Switch hardware than elsewhere.

Eventually the Switch will be on decline but right now its still doing impressively well. All Nintendo has to do is just release the Switch to markets they never focused before for more sales to boost. If not then just a mid gen Switch that's slightly more powerful.

Having a next gen console at this point is really asking Nintendo to not only discontinue one of the Switch models but to also face heavy losses if the next console again can't sell anywhere half to what the Switch has. The best case is let Nintendo see if their forecasts missing the sales projections gets worse. Once that is on the red flag, then its only natural that the next console should come. Right now it doesn't seem to show that much.

Also technically the Gameboy has lasted for a decade...but the Switch does look like its the next gameboy.

Edited 2 times

bakfug

1y ago

@socar

The question of "so what happens" if their next system fails to sell well is completely meaningless to the conversation. That that question and issue is something that will always exist no matter what and when they release a system. And if you really want to bring that in, if it fails to sell well early, then releasing it sooner makes significantly more sense as they would still have their previous console sales to fall back on. If switch slows down to a crawl in 2025 and they have no new hardware on the horizon, then what then? They are in worse shape for the future while relying solely on the previous generation having sold well, a mistake they made twice before with Wii and DS, and they clearly have shown they've learned from those mistakes.

And you seem to be mistaken. The Switch is on the decline already even if it's still selling well enough. It's the 5th week in a row that it has been outsold by PS5 in Japan. Nintendo has already lowered their sales forecast due to not meeting numbers. With the PS5 being easier and easier to find by just walking into a store anywhere in the world, this trend will continue indefinitely. And the complaints about the antiquated hardware are stronger than ever now.

These are the signs that you should be looking at that they are definitely looking at. That is why the chipset is already in manufacturing for new hardware. Your wait and see approach has no future proofing, and the goodwill that they've achieved through a previously competent release schedule and interesting hardware would all but be dried up in two years of waiting with nothing.

And The Game boy comparison is fairly disingenuous as mobile hardware was not advancing fast enough to make a worthwhile update. It also existed in the market where Nintendo had like 85% of the market share.


socar

1y ago

@bakfug

"The question of "so what happens" if their next system fails to sell well is completely meaningless to the conversation. That that question and issue is something that will always exist no matter what and when they release a system. And if you really want to bring that in, if it fails to sell well early, then releasing it sooner makes significantly more sense as they would still have their previous console sales to fall back on. If switch slows down to a crawl in 2025 and they have no new hardware on the horizon, then what then? They are in worse shape for the future while relying solely on the previous generation having sold well, a mistake they made twice before with Wii and DS, and they clearly have shown they've learned from those mistakes."

It actually has meaning because as soon as the Switch started selling well, Nintendo confirmed that it wanted to extend the lifespan of the Switch. If it fails, it will be very hard for Nintendo to get Switch buyers to buy the Switch as they would have to focus on their marketing for the next gen console. Both cannot co exist as we have seen when Nintendo tried saying that the Switch and 3DS could exist.

I don't know what you're talking about regarding the Wii and DS mistake because the main mistake they did atleast for the Wii was that they ended it sooner with the Wii U in place. Same goes for the DS which atleast the 3DS sold better but not on DS levels still.

"And you seem to be mistaken. The Switch is on the decline already even if it's still selling well enough. It's the 5th week in a row that it has been outsold by PS5 in Japan. Nintendo has already lowered their sales forecast due to not meeting numbers. With the PS5 being easier and easier to find by just walking into a store anywhere in the world, this trend will continue indefinitely. And the complaints about the antiquated hardware are stronger than ever now."

That's because of the scalpers hoarding the PS5 hardware and nothing else in Japan. Sony confirmed that scalpers are bad for their business in the long run. And just because the PS5 is at the top, that doesn't automatically mean that new hardware should be in the works because the Switch is still selling and its coming second place still and as far a hybrid consoles go, there is no real competition Nintendo is facing and they don't need to be in the top of the charts to prove the Switch still being relevant because Xbox never sells well in Japan so outside of PS, what else is Nintendo facing against?

Japanese gamers have already expressed anger towards Sony to the point that they would just move over to PC. This is clearly just scalpers buying hoards and selling them off elsewhere for profits.

"These are the signs that you should be looking at that they are definitely looking at. That is why the chipset is already in manufacturing for new hardware. Your wait and see approach has no future proofing, and the goodwill that they've achieved through a previously competent release schedule and interesting hardware would all but be dried up in two years of waiting with nothing."

We don't know what Nintendo is planning for the next hardware. The fact that they put in 20XX during their shareholders meeting means that they are looking at this very closely to see when would be the right time to reveal the new hardware. Nintendo clearly doesn't want to repeat the Wii U scenario

"And The Game boy comparison is fairly disingenuous as mobile hardware was not advancing fast enough to make a worthwhile update. It also existed in the market where Nintendo had like 85% of the market share."

The gameboy was referring to the point that you said that the Switch is the largest gap in the lifespan which I only corrected in saying that the Gameboy typically lasted over a decade which was the largest Nintendo has ever done. But the Switch is about to be the next gameboy. It was a simple correction.

Regardless all we can do is wait and see where it goes.


bakfug

1y ago

@socar

It sounds like you just want the last word here, because you're really not making any points, especially going from "not realistic" and "foolish" to "wait and see". 6th week in a row PS5 is over Switch in Japan, over 200% increase from last year, regardless of how you want to justify it, and switch is more than 20% down from last year. Sure, we'll have to wait and see what happens, but Nintendo for sure isn't going to take that wait and see approach until 2025 like you think is realistic


socar

1y ago

@bakfug

If they didn't want to do the wait and see approach, then they wouldn't have wanted it to last a decade like they said they would. They would have revealed the next gen console as soon as 2021 even.

Like you said, we'll just have to wait and see.


bakfug

1y ago

@socar

You really do just want the last word.