French games industry hits $5.3bn in 2017

The video games market in France grew 18% last year to €4.3 billion ($5.3 billion).

Console hardware, PC hardware and accessories grew 22% over 2016 to €1.69bn, while the software sector reached €2.61 billion, a rise of 16%.

€748 million was generated from console sales alone, driven by the new launches of Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X, plus the continued success of the PlayStation family of devices. Console hardware sales rose 31% compared with 2016, which French trade body SELL describes as 'unprecedented'.

The new consoles on the market saw accessory sales reach €272 million, a rise of 23%. Meanwhile, console games grew 20% to €1.35bn. A huge rise in digital sales accounted for most of this, with virtual/digital sales growing 46%. However, the physical market grew, too, with boxed game sales increasing 6%. The physical sector remains the dominant area for console games in France, accounting for 59% of console game sales.

Overall, the console games market accounted for 31% of the French games industry, with an overall 23% growth for the entire console ecosystem compared with 2016.

It is the biggest growth area, with PC games growing by 6% and handheld gaming (including mobile) up 22%.

Looking specifically at PC, this sector is now worth over €1 billion in France (€1.12 billion to be exact). This growth is due to a rise in sales of PC gaming hardware and accessories, which are now worth a combined €637 million (57% of the market). PC gaming hardware grew 10%, while PC gaming accessories improved by 20%.

Yet it wasn't entirely good news for the PC sector. PC game sales were worth €487 million during 2017, a drop of 1% over the year before. This is primarily due to the stability of the digital market and a decline in physical PC game sales (down 14%).

This data was compiled by SELL, using ISFE's new GSD project (which combines physical and digital data for the first time), App Annie's mobile data and GameTrack's mobile date.