Launched two years ago at GDC, the non-profit group the PC Gaming Alliance has been trying to both study the PC gaming industry as well as suggest improvements to help expand. Today the organization announced the results of their 2009 Horizons report, a research study on PC gaming revenues. The press release that announced the results showed a 3 percent increase in worldwide PC gaming revenues in 2009 with a total of $13.1 billion.

That number doesn't just contain sales of games at brick-and-mortar stores. In fact those sales actually declined in 2009 and now cover less than 20 percent of all software-based revenues. Digital distribution of PC games made up the difference. Other sources of revenue for their numbers came from monthly subscriptions for online games, sales of virtual items and sales of ads for gaming web sites. While revenues in the US and Europe were down between 10 and 15 percent in 2009, the still growing Asian market made up for the difference.