Despite the worldwide economic slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the global gaming industry is thriving and set to hit new highs. Research data analyzed and published by Safe Betting Sites predicts that the space will be worth at least $159.3 billion in 2020.
To place this in perspective, the figure makes it almost three times bigger than the music industry, whose revenues in 2019 were $57 billion. On the other hand, the box office industry was worth only a quarter of this, as its revenues amounted to $43 billion in 2019. SafeBettingSites.com’s estimate means that the global gaming market would mark a 9.3% growth rate YoY.
The same report goes on to estimate the CAGR of the industry at 9% for the period between 2018 and 2022. That would place its worth in 2022 at approximately $196 billion. Considering that the revenue for 2018 was $138.7 billion and $152 billion in 2019, the gaming sector is clearly enjoying massive success.
There are multiple factors fueling this performance. One of these has to do with the fact that its business model has in recent years evolved considerably. Even though today’s consumers purchase fewer games than previously, they now spend more time on them.
To harness this potential, game providers have shifted the model from single-purchase to recurring revenue stream. Some of the popular in-game monetization opportunities include characters, tools, expansion packs, loot boxes and a host of other virtual items.
Another key factor has to do with enhancements in gaming hardware and internet access, which have improved accessibility across platforms and devices.
Mobile Gaming Accounts for 48% of Industry Revenue
Almost half of the gaming industry’s revenues, at least 48%, are traceable back to mobile gaming. The figure has increased from 45% in 2019, making mobile gaming the largest segment of online gaming. Attesting to this growth, Google Play Store has experienced over 70% YoY growth in the number of people subscribing to games.
Moreover, the mobile gaming segment is predicted to reach $77.2 billion in 2020. This would mark a YoY growth rate of 13.3%. In contrast, the PC gaming space will reach $36.9 billion in revenue, marking a 4.8% increase YoY. And console game revenues would be worth $45.2 billion, a 6.8% increase YoY.
In 2019, the mobile gaming sector was worth $68.5 billion, with mobile games accounting for 33% of all downloaded apps. Furthermore, these games contributed 74% of all app-based consumer spend as well as 10% of the time spent in-app.
Notably, there have been significant changes in the mobile ecosystem that are directly related to gaming. To illustrate, in the US, mobile users spent eight more minutes per day on their mobile devices than on television in 2019. According to eMarketer, this time could increase to over half an hour by 2021.
Apps now play the role of prime time, with games taking the lion’s share. At least 50% of all app users on mobile devices play games. This places the category third, behind social media (67%) and shopping apps (56%) with betting apps also rapidly rising.
Barriers to entry have also been knocked down thanks to the rise of casual and hyper-casual games that are easy to download and play. Additionally, the traditional stereotypes of gamers no longer apply. Gender split in gaming as a whole is 54% male and 46% female, but in mobile gaming it is 50/50.
Asia Pacific Dominates Global Gaming Market with $72.2 Billion Revenue
For years now, the global gaming space has had Asia Pacific as the dominant region, and if recent statistics are anything to go by, this is not about to change. In 2019, the games market revenue from this region alone amounted to $72.2 billion.
This was more than double the amount coming from North America. The same source estimates that in 2020, the region will contribute at least 49% of the industry’s revenue, which would amount to $78.3 billion. Considering that its revenue in 2017 was a mere $36 billion, this is remarkable growth.
Within Asia Pacific, China’s market was the largest in 2019, bringing in about $34.4 billion. The amount was more than double its 2014 revenue and the highest yet. Japan, home to Nintendo and other gaming giants, was the second largest market with $19 billion in revenue.
Notably too, China’s mobile gaming market is immense, worth at least a quarter of the global industry’s value. Within the context of the country’s overall gaming revenue, the mobile gaming market accounted for over 68.5% of the total.
However, in terms of individual countries, the United States overtook China in 2019 in terms of revenues. It was considered the largest gaming market in the world, generating $36.9 billion. Primarily, this growth was driven by its 13.9% increase in revenues from console games.
