Video games to triple music market by 2014

The global video games market will expand to three times the size of the recorded music market by 2014, according to a new study highlighting further profound shifts in consumers' and advertisers' media spending over the next five years.

Growth in online, mobile and casual gaming will drive a compound annual growth rate of 10.5 per cent in consumer spending on video games - the strongest growth in the media sector, says PwC's annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. This will take the industry's revenues from $51bn to $84bn by 2014, PwC forecasts, contrasting with revenues of $28bn for recorded music. The forecast comes as the games industry is gathering in Los Angeles for the E3 trade show this week after a weak year in which US sales fell and global growth sputtered to 2.2 per cent.