Video games industry sales in Spain 2010-2018, by product type

The gaming industry experienced a general downtrend in sales value over the last few years, with its software or the games per se seeing the greatest fall in the sector, down to 364 million euros in 2018 from 575 million euros recorded in 2010. Console sales also decreased during the same period, with a high record in 2010 at 446 million euros down to 356 million euros in 2018. Gaming accessories was the only type of product in this industry that maintained its sales steadily, with figures reaching 130 million euros in 2018.

Console games: second to none in the industry

Despite the drop in sales of video games and consoles, most of the industry’s revenues still generated from these two sources, with consoles accounting for about 42 percent of the total sales value and with 43 percent generated from game sales in 2018. Most of the game sales revenues generated proceeded from console games, whose sales value amounted to 482 million euros in 2017. Casual and social games featured a sales value of 271 million euros during the same year, but the sector is forecast to grow by over one hundred million and reach 381 million euros by 2022. In contrast, PC games only generated around 127 million euros in 2017, and even though it did see some growth in recent years, computer games seem to be progressing at a slower pace than its counterparts in the industry.

Popularity of gaming in Spain

Video games are most popular among those Spaniards aged 11 to 14 years, according to the latest studies. In 2018, the share of people that played video games in that age group was nearly 80 percent, closely followed by the 6-to-10-year-olds with a share of 76 percent. The older the age group the least popular video games become, with playing shares dwindling from age 15 at 64 percent down to 23 percent at age 45. Amongst video game players, consoles ranked as the most popular gaming platform, with these devices being used by 24 percent of players. Additionally, the average time Spanish players spent on their games amounted to over 6 hours a week in 2018, with very similar figures in recent years according to the latest data.