Only 2.5% of 2022 PC games hit 50K players per Newzoo, TikTok study

According to a new study from TikTok and Newzoo, the PC and console games market is more crowded than ever before. New games entering the $95.2 billion PC and console games’ market have a hard time reaching players compared to fan-favorite franchises.

The number of PC releases each year has gone up dramatically according to data from SteamDB. In 2022, 12,690 games debuted on Steam growing about 13% on average every year since 2017.

However, its harder than ever before for games to find an audience. Per Newzoo’s Game Performance Monitor, only 307 PC games and 153 console titles released in 2022 reached over 50,000 lifetime players. This is down 50% for PC and 42% for console over the same five year period. Some of this decline is a result of gamers having more time to try older releases, however most games find the majority of their audience at launch.

“We’re seeing that it’s very hard to to get to the first 50,000 players and it’s very hard to sustain them. The competition is quite fierce in this market,” said Assaf Sagy, Head of Global Gaming for TikTok. “The console market has a lot more stability, but supply issues from Covid made it impossible to get new consoles for many.”

Franchises are sticky for younger fans

All of 2022’s top 20 titles by monthly active users (MAUs) were live service games, which makes sense given the business model. More importantly, 90% of this list debuted before 2022 showing how difficult it is to keep players engaged. Moreover, both of the titles released in 2022 that made the list — Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II/Warzone 2.0 and FIFA 23 — are known for annual releases. In fact, only two games released in the 2020’s — Fall Guys and Valorant — were not from established franchises.

The dominance of familiar franchises hasn’t slowed down in 2023 either. For January to May, the only new game that broke into the top 20 by MAUs was Hogwarts Legacy.

While the title itself was new, setting the game in the Harry Potter universe clearly helped get players to give the game a try. “We are seeing many game companies bringing IP because it helps with initial marketing, but the quality of the game and the launch itself matters. We do see that when launches on TikTok are good, there is some correlation to the success of the game,” Sagy said.

Overall, this data suggests that gamers are sticking with their favorites, rather than trying new titles. Publishers have their work cut out for them to convince players to try something new, partially because gamers, especially younger generations, are increasingly building community through games.

Gen Z and Millennials are connecting through esports, online communities, conventions and more according to Newzoo’s data. Younger gamers — 45% of Gen Z and 37% of Millennials — engaged with games outside of playing and viewing gaming content. This translates to purchases, with about three out of four Gen Z and Millennial gamers spending on games — though this also includes mobile game spending in addition to PC and Console.

Breaking into a crowded market with TikTok

TikTok has been positioning itself as the go-to destination to reach gaming audiences. Today, gaming content has garnered 3.6 trillion views on the platform with 50% of viewers watching gaming content.

TikTok also worked with Material to highlight how the platform drives discovery for PC and console games. According to the study of 1,166 U.S. and U.K. PC and console gamers that use TikTok, 76% play on these platforms at least weekly.

Pre-release is critical for publishers to find and build an audience for PC and console titles. Nearly four out of five players plan out their PC and console purchases. Moreover, 62% of new game discovery happens before a game is released.

TikTok’s research suggests that gamers on the platform are a high value audience compared to peers off the platform. When gamers engage with a title on TikTok before release, they spend 1.8-times as much as gamers where TikTok was not part of their discovery journey.

“Because of the nature of the platform and democratization of content, we can actually help brands and marketers be a memorable part of the gaming experience whether you’re an indie brand or established,” said Rema Vasan, Head of Global Gaming Business Marketing at TikTok.

Vasan pointed to several examples of indie titles finding an audience on the platform. Cosmic horror fishing game Dredge sold over 1 million units since its March launch. #Dredge has accrued over 163 million views, though the tag isn’t game specific. Similarly, battle royale BattleBit Remastered has sold roughly 3 million units after garnering over 148 million views on TikTok.

After an insane October and the holidays on the horizon, publishers need every tool they can to attract fans. TikTok already has tools for gaming companies large and small to help develop effective content and find the right audience.