PC gaming to be worth $35bn by 2019 'due to eSports and free-to-play'

It does not seem that long ago that PC gaming was deemed to be dying a slow and agonising death thanks to the big, sexy, easy home consoles finding new audiences throughout the noughties.

Thanks in large part to Steam however, PC gaming began a resurgence, which turned into a boom when the Xbox 360/PS3 era began to lay to rest and the PS4/Xbox One era began its slow and so far pretty turgid life.

The boom does not look like it's going to slow down any time soon either, with business group Open Gaming Alliance using data collected by research firm DFC Intelligence to predict that its current $26bn (£1.7bn) worth will grow to $35bn by the year 2019 (via VentureBeat).

The two reasons the study cites for this growth are the thriving eSports scene and the growing popularity of free-to-play games.

The three main home consoles (PS4, Xbox One and Wii U) are also included in the report, as well as the handheld and phone/tablet industries.

Home consoles are expected to peak at just over $30bn worth in 2018 before falling off. The mobile industry is also expected to grow at a startling rate, nearly catching up with PC gaming's worth by 2019.

DFC analyst David Cole told VentureBeat: "In past years much of the growth in PC games has been due to adoption of the platform in Asia. Now we are estimating a potential 86 million PC gamers outside Asia that we have targeted as market growth drivers.

"These are the consumers that are driving spending not just on software, but also on PC hardware, as they buy expensive equipment to play, view, and record games."