Gaming Console Adoption in Steep Decline in U.S., Western Europe

Gaming console manufacturers know they face an uphill battle as the mobile gaming market continues to steal consumers’ attention. But a series of reports from Parks Associates shows just how much trouble the Big Three (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) face both in the U.S. and the western part of Europe.

In their new European research report, Parks found a steady decline in gaming console adoption in France, Spain, and the U.K., while it remained flat in Germany. The research firm pointed to the continued adoption of mobile gaming as well as the availability of gaming on streaming media devices as key drivers of the decline.

“France’s gaming console adoption dropped from 59 percent in 2013 to 49 percent in 2015, and the impact reaches beyond gaming,” said Brett Sappington, Senior Research Director at Parks Associates, said in a statement. “Game consoles remain one of the key elements of the connected home, but other devices are gaining importance, including smart TVs and streaming media players. As penetration of game consoles declines in global markets, companies will have to make difficult decisions regarding which platforms to support as they fund video games or digital media apps.”