How Much is the Gaming Industry Worth? Interesting to Know

How Much is the Gaming Industry Worth?

Gaming is one of the leading industries and focuses on the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. Video games are stress busters and allow gamers to indulge in their passions through interactive gaming. These days, video games are easily accessible. The graphics and visuals used in video games have become extremely good and these advancements are taking place on daily basis. However, this wasn’t the case always.

People back in the 1960s didn’t have the “luxury” of video games. The first-ever video game was launched in 1972 and gained mainstream popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.

The first video game was the “Pong” and as you might have guessed, it was the digital version of ping pong and was a simple tennis game. This was a very big stepping stone and paved the way for the development of the video games of the present today.

The gaming industry is flourishing day by day and makes us wonder, how much is the gaming industry worth?

Before diving into the details, let’s take a look at its overall worth.

Quick Overview of the Gaming Industry Statistics – 2022

• Worth: The gaming industry is worth more than $300 Billion as of 2022.
• Active Players: The gaming industry has 3.24 billion active gamers.
• Future Estimation: It is estimated that the gaming industry will keep on increasing.
• About 83% of the video games sales takes place in the world of Global X ETFs.
• Mobile gaming is estimated to have the largest revenue with a worth of about $93.2 Billion, followed by console gaming which has an estimated worth pf $50.4 Billion.

History of the Gaming Industry

Gaming Industry started with arcade gaming. Arcade gaming was the first electronic gaming that was mainly operated by coins. The first-ever electronic game known as Pong was in fact Arcade and was introduced in the early 1970s.

The first home video game console was Magnavox Odyssey. Later on, Pong was also copied into the home console version, due to the massive success of its arcade version. The home console gaming market then gained popularity and flourished. The arcade gaming industry also witnessed its golden era with games like Space invaders and Pac-Man in the mid-1970s. Atari is identified as the first-ever company to start electronic gaming. Nintendo is one of the oldest as well as the richest gaming companies.

Starting from arcade gaming, the gaming industry has come a long way and now consists of mobile gaming, PC gaming, video gaming, as well as tablet gaming.

With such development and advancements in the gaming industry, the question of how much is the gaming industry worth remains intact.

In 2004, the gaming industry generated $25.4 billion. In 2007, it had a worldwide worth of $44.9 Billion. By 2010, this worth had increased to $62.7 billion, and by 2013, it had reached $76 Billion.

However, there was a rapid increase in the revenue generated by the gaming industry. By 2017, the gaming industry generated a revenue of $108.9 billion. This worth has drastically increased as of now and has reached a worth of more than $300 Billion.

There are a number of reasons for this exponential rise in the revenue of the gaming industry, with the outbreak of the pandemic being the main one. Apart from video games, gaming technology has seen a number of innovations including smartphone gaming, VR and AR, which led to increased attention towards the gaming industry.

The partnering of the major names in the gaming industry has also led to improve their sales. All these factors, with certain others have pushed the gaming industry to new heights.

How much is the Gaming Industry worth in 2022?

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, people had to sit at their homes with or without jobs and thus had plenty of time to spare. This led to increased levels of anxiety and depression amongst them. In order to pass their time and relieve stress, boredom and anxiety, people turned towards gaming. This contributed to the drastic increase in the worth of the gaming industry.

The gaming industry is now worth more than $300 Billion.

By 2022, the gaming industry has exceeded all expectations and has broken all its previous records. After the pandemic, the trend of gaming didn’t stop and kept on growing and is still growing in 2022.

The revenue from the gaming industry can be divided mainly into two sections:

1. Direct Revenue
2. Indirect Revenue

The direct revenue comes from mobile & handheld console hardware, mobile game software, and digital PC game software. The estimated worth of this industry is $200 Billion. The other section of the gaming revenue is the indirect one, which has a worth of $100 Billion and includes mobile devices, PC gaming hardware, PC gaming accessories, gaming video content, and eSports.

Several surveys have been carried out to understand this increase in worth of the gaming industry.

What has led to the Increased Worth of the Gaming industry?

The gaming industry has gained a lot of popularity with the rapid advancement in technology and the introduction of the latest devices and gaming accessories. With people being confined to their houses, due the COVID-19 pandemic, they turned to online platforms for gaming to pass their time and kill their boredom. These are the most noticeable reasons for the increase in the net worth of the gaming industry.

However, some other reasons also provide an overview of the drastic change in the market.

• Gaming Experience: The gaming experience has improved significantly. Triple-A is the highest grade which is awarded to games that perform exceptionally well like Witcher 3 and GTA 5. This grade is given on the basis of the gaming quality, innovation, engagement of users, and graphic intensity. Games with such extraordinary experiences are being developed. The big names of the gaming industry are always fighting to develop games with exceptional performance and this is achieved by having big and expert teams of developers, big budgets, and coming with a best-in-class gaming experience.
• Immersive Gaming: The rise in immersive gaming has also played an important role in the growth of gaming. It can be looked at under gaming experience. The developers of games these days highly focus on providing an exceptionally good experience that has the capability to wrap the gamer completely in the virtual experience. With these highly developed and graphically enhanced games, the number of users engaged in gaming is increasing by the day and thus contributing to the growth of the gaming industry.
• Internet Connectivity: With the introduction of 5G internet, the connectivity bandwidth has increased.

Fast connectivity and wide adaption of the internet, through smartphones, have led to an increased number of people engaging in gaming. The internet users have increased by 7.7% in 2021, according to the statistics published by DataReporal as compared to 2020. As of 2022, there are 4.95 billion internet users, which means about 62.5 percent of the world’s total population uses the internet. This allows more people to access online gaming platforms.

• Cloud Gaming: Cloud gaming has also led to an increase in the worth of the gaming industry. It is a kind of online gaming that can run video games on remote servers and stream them directly on the device. It is a very convenient method of gaming and has led add to the gaming industry.
• Spare Time: With the outbreak of Covid-19, everyone had a lot of spare time on their hand and thus turned to the game. A survey showed that on average, gamers spend about 16 hours per week gaming and about 8 hours every week watching or practicing in-game streams. It was also observed that gamers spend about 6 hours each week interacting at game forums. This increased investment of time by people began during the pandemic and is still growing, resulting in addition to the worth of the gaming market.
• Interactions of Gamers: The interaction of gamers at different gaming forums and platforms, online as well as in-person has also contributed to the growth of the gaming industry and thus has affected its worth positively.
• Online Gambling: Games nowadays come with casinos online. This allows the users to experience Vegas from the comfort of their house. This has attracted more users to the gaming industry.
• RPGs and MMOs: RPG stands for Role-playing video games and MMO stands for Massively multiplayer online role-playing games. RPGs like The Witcher 3 and Persona 5 Royal are among the leading video games of 2022 and games like these also become a major reason for the growth of the gaming market.
• Mobile Gaming: Smartphone game is booming rapidly and is estimated to have a value of $94.8 Billion as of 2022. Smartphones are the most popular device and you will see them in almost every hand. With widespread internet connectivity and smartphones present in every hand, mobile gaming has become very popular and easy to access. It is one of the major contributors to the increase in the gaming market.
• Upgraded Consoles: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are the big names in the gaming industry. They are the major companies that rule the console space. They always come up with upgrades to their consoles in order to stay in the competition and persist in their user’s attention. Sony launched the PlayStation 5 in 2020, which was a massive hit amongst gamers. 2021 wasn’t a year of new consoles, however, 2022 is expected to be the year for more releases. This would add more gamers and engage the already present ones. The upgraded consoles will integrate VR gaming to improve the overall gaming experience.
• Powerful Hardware: A few years ago, the gaming hardware lacked precise accuracy which was the main demand of role-playing video games. Recently, gaming setups with powerful hardware to provide the best performance have gained the attention of gamers. Different companies have strived to improve the hardware of the gaming consoles along with providing external accessories like gaming keyboards, mice, steering wheels, etc., and have contributed about $39.8 Billion to the gaming market.
• Digital Sales: In the older
• Until 2020, gamers have spent $4.5 Billion on immersive games. In 2021, players spend about $60.4 Billion in the United States.
• Mobile Publishers bought ad-tech companies to deal with privacy concerns.
• Audiences of online gaming is expected to surpass 1.3 billion people as of 2025.

Gaming Industry Statistics – 2022

• Forecast of Global Gaming Market

In 2010, the gaming industry had an estimated worth of $65.9 Billion. After 5 years, which is in 2015, the worth of the gaming industry increased to $91.5 Billion.

The gaming industry, in 2022, has a whopping worth of $300 Billion. It is expected to have a growth rate of 9.17% starting from 2020 till 2025.

• Forecast of Video Gaming Market

In 2020 the gaming market had a worth of $156.8 Billion. A study showed that it will have an annual growth rate of 9.3% over the upcoming years.

It is expected that the number of users in this segment will be around 3200 million by 2026. The user penetration is 36.5% in 2022 and will be about 40.6% by 2026.

In 2020, the video gaming market was able to generate a revenue of $162.32 billion, which was a bit disappointing, however, it has been only increasing ever since.

• Sony and Microsoft

Both these console competent giants launched the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S at the end of 2020. These were an immediate success and faced a shortage of supply of the new consoles with the highest demand ever.

• Largest Gaming Market

United States is expected to be one of the largest or perhaps the largest market in terms of gaming revenue vie consumer spendings. It is expected to generate a revenue of $50.5 Billion. China is expected to follow it, by earning an annual revenue of about $50.2 Billion in 2022.

However, if we look at regions, Asia Pacific region holds the largest gaming revenue. Its gaming revenue was estimated to be about $174 Billion in 2021. It is growing with its population. The global gaming industry has increased by around half a billion players in the last three years, which means about 2.7 billion people are directly or indirectly involved in gaming and enjoy playing regularly. It is expected that more than 400 million new players will be joining the gaming industry by the end of 2023.

The main reason for Asia Pacific’s largest share in the gaming market is due to the high potential of market growth shown by China, Japan and South Korea.

One of the main reasons of the large gaming market of China is the rapid growth of mini-games which can be played directly within the mobile apps, without requiring the user to install any additional apps. Such mini-games are simple to play and have a large following in the region.

Another reason for the forecast of the growth of the gaming market in the region is because Razer plans to invest $7.2 million in Singapore’s gaming market. It is a well-known company for its gaming accessories. It is planning to boost the gaming industry of the country by sponsoring the gaming companies and eSports teams.

Japan also has a major contribution in the gaming market. This is due to the rapid growth of technology in the country with leading gaming companies, such as Sony, Nintendo and Konami. These companies have allowed Japan to play an important role in the growth of the global gaming revenue. Thus, gaming market of Japan is expected to grow significantly in the upcoming period. In addition to this, Japanese companies like Sega partnered with Microsoft. They focused on the development of the Super Games platform using the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

Korea is also contributing to the growth of the gaming market revenue in the Asian Pacific region. In 2021, the Korean company names NCSOFT Corp. launched Blade & Soul 2 for PCs and smartphones. This launch was a huge success with about 7.64 million pre-registrations, which was a record for the company.

• Smartphone Gaming Market

Mobile gaming is the most common gaming method globally and surpasses PC and console gaming. The main reason for the popularity of the mobile gaming is its easy accessibility. Mobile phones are present everywhere and come with millions of free games.

A study in 2021 showed that about 50% of the global gaming revenue came from mobile gaming, which is expected to increase by each passing year. It is expected that the mobile game’s revenue will pass the $100 billion mark by the end of 2023.

The mobile gaming has also paved way for newer technologies such as the VR, cloud gaming, and AR. AR is one of the most popular choices for gaming as it provides the most immersive and interactive technology for the gamers. The category of AR in the app stores of smart devices is the most popular category.

According to gender statistics in mobile gaming, 4.5 percent of women pay for in-app game purchases, as compared to only 3.3% of men. From 2016 to 2020, the 75th percentile 30-day user retention improved by 7.1 percent, according to Unity Technologies. In addition, conversion rates for in-app purchases increased by 7.7% within the same time period.
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About 51% of the mobile gamers are women and they spend about 25% longer periods of time on mobile gaming sessions as compared to men.

The average age of a mobile game is 36.3. “The 16-24 age group represents a mere 14.2% of mobile gamers, while people older than 45 years make up nearly a third. So mobile gamers are more likely to be middle-aged moms than their teenage sons.”, according to the MMA global.

According to the latest reports, there are more than 2.69 billion mobile gamers around the world. App store contributes 66% of the overall revenue share in the total of the mobile gaming.

Another reason for the increase of the worth of the mobile gaming is the shift of the hardcore games towards mobile gaming. Thanks to all the advancements in the software and hardware of the smartphones, which allows the developers to retain the quality of the games.

• eSports

This is another important contributor towards the growth of the gaming market in 2022. More gamers are now interested in watching sports instead of playing them. As told by Newzoo, there were about half a billion eSports viewers in 2020. This number has been increasing ever since. This also adds an increased responsibility on the developers. The gamers now need to consider integrations for streaming channels. Streaming games and videos are very beneficial for the developers as it provides free promotion. Gamers download and play games, more often, when they are suggested or streamed by the gaming influencers.

The global eSports audience has been expected to reach about 456 million. Venues aren’t large enough to occupy all the viewers. Therefore, the focus of eSports has been increased more than ever and the numbers that came forward from the eSports segment during our study are pretty astonishing.

The eSports worth is expected to reach about $1.61 billion in 2024. This value is predicted mainly due to the huge flow of cash towards this segment of gaming mainly for advertising, sponsorships and media rights.

• About $4.5 Billion are spend by players on VR Gaming

With the advancements in technology, the latest gaming methods include VR gaming also known as immersive gaming. The gamers are transported into another world and the technology used is so fine that it makes the gamers think they are in the game which they are playing. VR gaming is experienced using a number of VR gaming equipment and accessories including VR headsets, sensor-equipped gloves, and hand controllers.

The VR gaming revenue has a value of $1.1 Billion and is expected to grow to $1.6 billion by the end of 2022. It is expected to have a value of $1.9 Billion in 2023 and a worth of $2.4 Billion in 2024.

Two of the major VR companies in the gaming industry which are the Bigscreen VR and the AltspaceVR are rapidly growing and are expected to progress faster.

• Slowest Growth Rate of the Gaming Market

The gaming market faced the slowest growth rate from 2015 to 2020. However, the release of Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s next-gen console at the end of 2020 along with the outbreak of Covid-19, the trends changed. There was an increase in the revenue of the gaming market and it has been growing ever since.

• Casual and Simple Games

Casual and Hyper-Casual Games like puzzles, arcades, lifestyle, bingo and simulations are also very popular and contribute towards the overall revenue of the gaming industry.

Majority of the smartphone gamers are middle-aged people who like to play simple games.

The puzzle games are simple and make up for one of the major contributors to the smartphone gaming revenue. In 2020, the puzzle games alone generated a worth of about $5.1 billion which was 29% more compared to 2019.

• Best Sellers of 2022

(Source: Gamespot)

The best-seller video game of 2022 is the Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which was developed by Traveler’s Tales and published by Warner Bros. It was released on 5^th April 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. This video game has gained praise from critics and gamers due to its graphics and design quality. It was able to sell more than 3.2 million copies only within two weeks of its release and was able to set a new franchise sales record.

The second-best seller of 2022 (by April 2022) in the US was Elden Ring. It is a role-playing game which is developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch on 25^th February 2022. It sold a total of 13.4 million copies and Bandai Namco reported annual revenue of about $6.85 billion.

• Biggest Video Gaming Companies in terms of Revenue – 2022

(Source: all to everything)

1. Sony: It is the world’s biggest video gaming company. This Japanese company had total revenue of $24.9 billion in 2021. It launches the world’s most popular gaming console in 2020 which is the PS5.

Sony’s PlayStation Vita contributed to the top position of Sony in the video gaming market.

2. Microsoft: Microsoft is an American Software company with gaming revenue of $16.3 billion. It is the world’s largest software company and the second largest video game company. The revenue of Microsoft is mainly due to the new next-gen Xbox Series X/S sales.
3. Nintendo: It is the world’s largest and most successful purely video game developer. It generated a total revenue of $15.3 billion in 2021, and thus made it to the third position on this list. The main reason of the popularity of this company is the Pokémon Legends: Arceus and also due to the continuous sales of the Nintendo Switch Console. Pokémon Legend was the best-selling game for Nintendo last year and contributed largely to its revenue.
4. Tencent: Tencent is a Chinese Social media company that is also involved in the video gaming industry. It has a revenue of about $13.9 billion last year. It mainly focuses on online and mobile games and has given one of the best mobile games. The major contributor to such an impressive gaming revenue if the PUBG: Mobile or Honor of Kings. It also owns Riot Games which is an American video game studio. This studio has created the League of Legends which is also another popular video game and is enjoyed by millions of users worldwide.
5. Activision Blizzard: It is American video game company that made to the fifth position in this list and was founded by merging Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. It managed to generate a revenue of $8.8 billion last year. It owes its success to the most historic game series: Call of Duty.

Other Noticeable Companies: Some other huge names in the industry of gaming are Electronic Arts (EA), with a gaming revenue of $5.6 billion (owed to FIFA 22), Epic Games with a revenue of $5.1 billion (owed to Fortnite), Take-Two Interactive with a revenue of $3.4 billion, Ubisoft having a revenue of $2.5 billion and Bandai Namco with a revenue of $2.0 billion.

This was a brief overview of the revenue of the gaming industry in terms of the large names of the industry. All these companies contribute towards the growth of the global gaming market.

• Ticket Sales

The CE of Netflix has admitted that Fortnite is bigger competition than HBO. Why so? The users and the new generation seem to prefer taking part in the action and not only watching it on the screen. The profits from the ticket sales are expected to reach about $41.7 billion.

• Increased Playtime among 45 to 54 years old people

This was another outcome of the pandemic of Covid-19. People were confined to their houses with not much at their hands and a lot of time to spare. There was an increase in growth in the playtime amongst different users, however, the most surprising was the increase of playtime of people aged between 45 to 54 years. This also increased the amount spent by the consumers by 75%.

Notable Developments in the Gaming Industry – 2022

• February 2022 – Steam launched Steam Deck. Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer that was developed in cooperation with Advanced Micro Devices.
• March 2022 – Sony made an announcement confirming its agreement to acquire Haven entertainment Studios Inc., which is a Montreal-based company.
• April 2022 – Bandai Namco Entertainment decided to build a new factory to expand its visual content, products, and services.
• May 2022 – Blizzard Entertainment announced that it will introduce an action-based mobile strategy game with Warcraft Arclight Rumble.

Future of the Gaming Industry

• Online Gambling

Gambling, aside from its harmful effects, is still loved by millions of people. With everything being digitalized gambling is also expected to be digitalized using the 3D games, live dealer and VR casinos with other technologies as well. It is expected to be introduced in the gaming industry in the upcoming years allowing people to experience gambling from the comfort of their homes. This will add a hefty value to the overall revenue of the gaming industry.

• Re-makes of Vintage games

Another forecast which will increase the revenue of the gaming industry this year, is the remake of games like Resident Evil 3 and XII, which are already under progress. Younger generations will be interested in these games, but people who grew up playing these games are the main target.

• EA & Cloud-Gaming Service

Several reports have suggested that EA is working on cloud computing. This will give EA additional benefits and bring in more players to EA thus contributing to the overall worth of the company and indirectly contributing to the growth of the gaming industry.

• High Fidelity Mobile Games

High fidelity mobile games are on the rise. Most of developers are now focusing on creating games with highly realistic graphics. Being the largest shareholder of the gaming industry revenue, China also tops the high-fidelity mobile games category in terms of revenue. A further increase in high-fidelity games is expected in 2022.

• Powerful Gaming Console

The last major release of the most popular gaming consoles was by Sony and Microsoft at the end of 2020. Further release of powerful gaming consoles is expected in 2022 which will drastically affect the annual revenue of the gaming industry.

• Merge of Marketing and Monetization Teams

In 2019, most of the gaming giants opted to merge their marketing and monetization teams, which resulted in better performances. In 2022, most other companies are expected to follow their footsteps.

• Spectators Vs Gamers

With rise in the popularity of watching the game, it is expected that they will take over gamers. Gaming has now become quite interesting for the spectators to watch.

Recent studies have shown that people aged between 18-25 are more interested in spectating gamers play in virtual spaces rather than watching regular sports. A 90% growth in the spectator audience is expected in 2022 and it is also estimated that they will take over the number of gamers.

• Mobile Gaming Domination

Mobile gaming already dominates the gaming industry and with the rapid expansion of smartphone users, it is expected to increase further in 2022. It had previously estimated to have a value of $198.40 Billion and is expected to reach $339.95 billion by 2027.

• Asia Pacific Gaming Market Dominance

The Asia Pacific market dominance in the gaming market will hit new heights in 2022. China, Japan, and Korea are expected to contribute largely to this dominance. Japan and China are already the home of the biggest gaming companies.

How Much is the Gaming Industry Worth?-Frequently Asked Questions

How big is gaming as an industry?
The gaming industry has a revenue of $300 Billion which is expected to grow at a rapid rate.

How much money is invested in the gaming industry?
According to DDM’s year-end report, total game-related investments increased from 406 deals worth $13.2 billion in 2020 (both records at the time) to 765 deals worth $38.5 billion in 2019.

Is the gaming industry bigger than the movie industry?
The gaming sector has smashed Hollywood’s earnings out of the park in the last decade! The Global “Games Market” generated $180 billion in revenue in 2021 alone. In fact, the gaming industry is larger than both Hollywood and the music industry put together.

Is the gaming industry profitable?
Video games are and have been a multibillion-dollar industry for many years. It is one of the most profitable industries with an estimated worth of $300 Billion in 2022.

Which country has the biggest gaming industry?
China has the biggest gaming industry, followed by the United States and Japan.

Is gaming the fastest-growing industry?
Gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries globally. It has a growth rate of 10%, according to different studies and research.

What percent of games make a profit?
While the video game industry’s growth statistics show record-breaking revenues, the fact is that only around a fifth of all game titles are profitable, and less than 5% of all games that are produced are profitable.

Who is the richest gaming company?
Sony Computer Entertainment has the privilege of being the richest gaming company in the world. It is s Japan-based company. It is the most valuable game development studio and owes its success to the PlayStation series.

How many gamers will there be in 2026?
It is expected that the number of gamers will increase rapidly in the upcoming years and there will be around 3200 million gamers by 2026. This is mainly due to the outstanding developments in gaming graphics and content.

Do free apps make money?
Yes, free apps make money by a number of methods including in-app purchases, advertising, affiliated marketing and sponsorship.

How Much is the Gaming Industry Worth?-Conclusion

The popularity and demands of mobile gaming, video gaming, PC gaming, and other gaming methods is increasing rapidly. The global gaming market in 2022 has an estimated worth of $300 Billion. The number of players is also increasing by the day and there are currently 2.5 billion people that spend their time playing games on smartphones, consoles, and PCs. Apart from these VR and AR technologies are also playing a vital role in the growth of the gaming market.

How much is the gaming industry worth in 2022? After going through the details, we can clearly see that the gaming industry is thriving at a very rapid rate and holds a promising future. It is also noted that the gaming industry has a number of indirect contributors along with esports as well.

If you are passionate about gaming and want to build a proper career or have a good audience or just want to turn to games for fun and kill boredom, you must be aware of the statistics and the future of the gaming industry.

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