PC Gaming Declines in Germany: Drops to 13.1 Million, a 20% Decrease Since 2019

So, there I was, staring at these numbers (from Germany, of all places) showing how much PC gaming has tanked since 2019. Like, by 20%! I mean, how does that even happen? Meanwhile, mobile and tablet gaming are just hanging out, not really moving. Consoles, though, they’re the real deal now, grabbing more of the spotlight every year. And Game.de (sounds official, right?) is all fired up about it. They’re saying consoles are gonna be the new big thing in Germany. Soon. Like, real soon.

Anyway, I got sidetracked by this chart. Consoles are just zooming ahead, it’s kind of nuts. Ignoring 2023 just makes 2024 look even crazier, like they’re off to the races, creating this weird steep angle—must be like, what, a 13-degree climb? And I’m just here wondering if that means the gamers are out of breath. Probably.

The reason behind this console craze? Game.de thinks it’s all about innovation—thanks to the big names like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. They keep tweaking their consoles just enough—putting out things like the PlayStation 5 Pro and the Nintendo Switch OLED. Oh, did I mention Nintendo launched the Switch 2? Yeah, that’s supposed to shake things up by 2025. Couldn’t make this up if I tried.

Consoles in Germany have hit about 20.5 million users, catching up to smartphone gamers at 22.9 million. Smartphones had this big spike in gaming from 2019 to 2020, but then just kinda plateaued. And you know, during all this, I had a sudden desire for a flat line in my life—no drama, just zen. But that’s another story.

Okay, PCs. What happened here? They’ve fallen back, literally. From 2019 to now, that 20% drop is just staring you in the face. There were 13.1 million PC gamers in 2024, but that’s a drop of 400,000 from the previous year. I guess folks are just moving on to shinier things?

Back in 2019, PCs were actually ahead—16.3 million compared to consoles at 15.9 million. Fast forward, and now consoles are winning by over 7 million. And almost 19 million gamers are double-dipping, playing on multiple platforms—talk about indecision!

No clear answer on why PC gaming’s losing steam. Game.de hints at a sort of “meh” year for the industry in 2024. Game sales dipped by 17%, and hardware lagged by 10%, while online gaming services somehow grew by 12%. Go figure.

If I were to guess (and I love a good guess), maybe it’s got something to do with the flaky availability of cool tech parts or the lackluster value of GPUs for all the budget players. Just a thought.

Couldn’t dig up similar graphs for the US or world markets. Looks like Game.de gets some special YouGov access—perks of being in the industry, I suppose.

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