Aug 13 (Reuters) - Research firm Newzoo dialed back its

annual growth forecast for the global videogame market on

Tuesday, as console sales underperform amid a relatively light

release schedule of games this year.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The gaming industry went through a tumultuous first half of

the year, fraught with mass layoffs, studio shutdowns and

project cancellations arising out of weak gamer spending.

The industry has been slow to recover after player

engagement rates peaked during the pandemic, eventually giving

way to a slump in spending once lockdown curbs eased and people

came out of the virtual world.

PlayStation 5 maker Sony ( SONY ) last week reported fewer

console sales in its first quarter compared to a year ago. The

company cut its forecast for full-year console sales in May.

KEY QUOTES

"Although overall playtime has declined since its peak in

early 2021, gamers still play and pay for gaming, showing the

market's resilience," according to Michiel Buijsman, Principal

Analyst at Newzoo.

This year and the last, PC gaming has benefited the most

from console exclusives moving to PC and the lack of console

content.

BY THE NUMBERS

The market is now expected to grow 2.1% and generate $187.7

billion in revenue from earlier growth projections of 2.8% to

$189.3 billion.

The global gamer community is also expected to grow 4.5% in

2024, according to the report, reaching 3.42 billion people,

with North America accounting for 7% of the global players.

The report says that personal computing will outpace mobile

and console segments in 2024, with revenues are expected to

increase by 4%.

The dynamic, however, is expected to shift in 2025 as

Nintendo ( NTDOF ) gears up for the launch of the Switch's

successor, and Take-Two Interactive releases the highly

anticipated "Grand Theft Auto VI".