Newzoo: Almost 20% of the highest-grossing console and PC games are open—world projects

Newzoo has published a study of the open world gaming market. The analytical company spoke about the share of “openworlds” on consoles and PCs, the most popular subgenres, as well as about the demographics of such titles. For example, the main audience of Minecraft is people aged 21-35.Minecraft

Note: Most of the data in the Newzoo study is based on the performance of 37 gaming markets, not counting China.

Basic data16.7% of the top 1000 highest-grossing console games are open—world projects.

• On PC, their share is even higher — 18.7%.In the top 15 console games with the highest MAU (as of April), there are several projects in the open world at once.
• Among them are GTA V (3rd place), Minecraft (6th place), Days Gone (11th place) and Horizon Zero Dawn (14th place).Top Console Games by MAU (as of April)

Almost three quarters of open-world PC games (based on the top 1400 highest-grossing projects) are adventures and RPGs.

• However, judging by MAU, there will be games of other genres in the top, such as shooters and races.MAU of PC games in the open world by genre

26.6% of PC players played sandbox games in April.

• On PlayStation and Xbox, the share of such players is 20%. The difference in audience size is explained by the greater popularity of Minecraft on PC.Four main categories of open world PC games

Survivalists.

• In the top 5 games of this genre by MAU (as of April) are Valheim, Rust, Ark: Survival Evolved, No Man’s Sky and The Forrest.Sandboxes.
• Top 5 games by MAU: Minecraft, Roblox, Garry’s Mod, Terraria and Space Engineers.Adventures.
• Top 5 games by MAU: GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Sea of Thieves, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Skyrim.RPG (mostly MMO).
• Top 5 games by MAU: Word of Warcraft, Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy XIV, Black Desert Online and World of Warcraft Classic.Demographics of open world games

To determine the main age groups, Newzoo studied the audience of Minecraft and The Elder Scrolls in four countries: the UK, USA, Germany and France.

• The largest age group is 21-35 years old.
• The share of such players in Minecraft is 41%, and in TES — 50%.A third of Minecraft players are people aged 10-20 years.
• The share of such players in TES is 26%.The main age groups of Minecraft and TES

Speaking of regions, North America and Western Europe account for over 50% of the total audience of the five most popular games in the open world.

• Next are Latin America (16.9%) and Eastern Europe (12.2%).However, the share of regions may vary depending on the specific game.
• For example, Valheim’s user base in North America and Western Europe is even higher than the averages of other open-world games in these markets.