The world has been negatively affected by the currently-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including the games industry. China is one of the countries most impacted by the crisis, but according to statistics provided by games analyst Niko, the nation remains the world’s largest market for PC gaming.

Niko reported that both mobile and PC games revenue in China reached US$33.1 billion in 2019, and is projected to pass US$46.7 billion by 2024. The country also had 685 million gamers in 2019, which is expected to rise to 772 million in 2024. However, most of them (around 637 million) are mobile gamers, but most PC gamers also play mobile games as well.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PC games revenue has fallen a whopping four percent to US$14.6 billion in 2019, with a further decline in the rest of 2020 to be expected due to the particularly-devastating impact the pandemic has inflicted on internet cafes in the country.

Despite all that, China is still very much the world’s largest market for PC gaming. This is because gamers have been spending more time and money on PC games during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever before. In addition, gamers in the country continue to be motivated by esports, with revenue reaching US$13.9 billion in 2019, which is expected to reach US$23.2 billion in 2024.

Another interesting tidbit from Niko’s reports is that female gamers are rising in the country, making up 42 percent of total gamers in 2018 and increasing to 46 percent in 2019. This number is projected to reach an unprecedented and impressive 50 percent in 2020, though primarily on the mobile platform.

(Image Credit: SCMP)