Global leaders of the PC gaming industry announced today the formation of the PC Gaming Alliance, a non-profit organization that unites hardware and software creators, game developers and publishers, and others committed to the PC gaming market with the common purpose of advancing the PC as a worldwide gaming platform.

Together, PCGA and its member companies will work to accelerate innovation, improve the gaming experience for consumers and serve as a collective source of market information and expertise on PC gaming. Members of PCGA are Acer Inc./Gateway Inc., Activision Publishing Inc., AMD, Dell/Alienware, Epic Games, Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., NVIDIA Corp. and Razer USA Ltd.

The PC gaming market is a multi-billion dollar industry with hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide. Leading research firm DFC Intelligence calls PC gaming “one of the fastest-growing segments of the interactive entertainment market” and projects that the PC game business will grow more than 80 percent over the next five years, with major increases in the number of PC gamers, revenue from digital distribution, and PC hardware sales.

PCGA is the first and only industry organization devoted to the PC gaming industry. It will focus on driving coordinated marketing and promotion of PC gaming, consistent and accurate reporting of PC gaming market sizing and research, and creating forums for member companies to cooperate on solutions to challenges facing the PC gaming industry, such as hardware requirements, anti-piracy, and more. PCGA will develop and promote guidelines and recommendations and foster information sharing between members to accelerate the PC gaming industry.

“PCGA members believe that we are stronger and more effective together than any member company is alone, and that our shared vision and group effort will improve PC gaming worldwide,” said Randy Stude, director of the Gaming Program Office at Intel. “Industry forums have proven to foster competition and innovation among member companies and grow markets while improving user experiences.”

“Microsoft is a strong believer in the PC as a platform for gaming, and the formation of PCGA is a major step forward for our industry and for PC gamers,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows at Microsoft. “Working together, we have an exponentially greater opportunity to propel the PC gaming experience to new heights.”

Consumers will benefit from this cross-company cooperation and shared focus to deliver better gaming experiences on their PCs.

“This collaboration will provide developers and publishers with a champion for consistent demographics, hardware adoption, and revenue measurement and reporting,” said David Cole, an analyst with DFC Intelligence. “An authoritative source of information on the PC as a gaming platform will serve as an invaluable catalyst for growing the market and improving the consumers’ PC gaming experience.”

The members developed the PCGA charter and organized the consortium, which is open to any industry stakeholder interested in furthering the PCGA mission to advance the PC gaming platform worldwide.

For more information, or to become a PCGA member, visit www.pcgamingalliance.org.

About PCGA

The PC Gaming Alliance is a non-profit organization formed by the PC gaming industry to advance the PC as a worldwide gaming platform. The open and cross-company alliance includes hardware and software makers, game developers and publishers, and others committed to the success of the PC gaming market. The PCGA mission is to accelerate innovation, improve the gaming experience for consumers and act as the industry’s authoritative source of expertise, information and analysis for PC gaming. It is headquartered in San Ramon, Calif. For more information, see www.pcgamingalliance.org.