The video game and eSports industry will generate a total of $ 159 billion in 2020 , an increase of 9.3% over the previous year. This figure is reached by combining the revenues of the various video game platforms, including systems, games and peripheral products thereof.
The consulting firm Newzoo has presented its new Global Games Market Report 2020 , which details the expectations of the sector regarding its current and future revenues and profits, demonstrating that the pandemic has accelerated the growth of the video games market , a sector that has been going on for years. in positive trend.
Most market segments have seen an increase in engagement and revenue during lockdown
The games for mobile devices is the largest segment and accounts for 40% of the total earnings for the industry in 2020 , 63.6 billion dollars. In addition, it achieves a growth of 15.8% compared to the previous year, followed by console games , which manage to generate 28% of total profits for the sector , with 45.2 billion dollars and a growth of 6, 8% compared to the previous year. This segment includes video games for the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
On the other hand, the only spectrum to reduce its income in the year, falling by 13.4%, is video games for PC Browser , generating 3 billion dollars, representing 2% of total profits.
The graph is completed by PC games, 21% of the final figure . It includes physical and digital games, representing 33.9 billion, with a growth of 6.7% compared to 2018 and finally games for Tablets, which reach 9% of the total with 13.7 billion dollars, being the least established mobile platform.
By 2020 there will be 2.7 billion players worldwide across all platforms
According to the data provided by Newzoo, it is estimated that 2.5 billion play video games through mobile devices, 1.3 billion from computer versions and 800 million on consoles, which means an increase of more than 135 million compared to the previous year , driven by emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Dominating the global gaming market is Asia , which will generate $ 78.4 billion, that is, 49% of the market and representing a growth of 9.9 percent, compared to the previous year. The 1.4 billion players in the region account for 54% of all players in the world.
The second largest region by revenue is North America, which has a quarter of the world market at $ 40 billion, an 8.5 percent increase from last year. However, the United States will have the fewest players of any region this year (210 million).
Europe , the second most mature gaming market after the US, achieves $ 29.6 billion , a growth of 7.8 percent.
The game will increase in Latin America by 10.3% with $ 6 billion of economic benefit, which represents 4% of the market for this year, with 266 million players.
Finally, the Middle East and Africa will reach $ 5.4 billion , an increase of 14.5%. Combined both regions, they have 377 million players.
Trends to watch out for for the video game industry
Despite this magnificent data for the sector, many new players have entered video games through mobile devices , whose free business model, overshadowing the economic growth of the sector for mobile devices.
Another trend that is expected to shape the video game market is next-generation consoles like Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 that will lead to new business models . If these brands’ cloud gaming services can replicate the gaming experience on next-gen consoles, a monthly fee will act as an alternative to the initial cost of a console.