The gaming market has become quite the growing influence across several spenders globally. On this occasion, we saw a significant development as Newzoo estimates that the video game market revenue lead will be stripped off China and taken by the United States. While there are many factors behind this, it still is an essential look into the shift that the latest world developments have brought.
According to the Newzoo report, the U.S. ($50.5 billion) will generate more than China ($50.2 billion) in 2022. The overtake makes sense, as the Chinese government has been cracking down on gaming in China, limiting new game releases and young people’s gaming time. The market is beginning to show the impact of these regulatory pressures.
Regardless of this, the Asia-Pacific market still remains the biggest region by revenues by a massive margin. However, the American and European sectors are still showing signs of growth, thanks to PC’s performance in the former market and consoles in the latter. Of course, the Mobile market will still accumulate more revenues than those two segments combined in 2022.
Speaking of mobile, Yearly mobile game revenues will pass the 100-million-dollar mark for the first time in 2022. However, it’s worth noting that its yearly rise is notably lower than its 2020 and 2021 growth numbers. Why? Well, it’s because the rest of the world is opening again, and mobile users are not spending as much as they were during the pandemic.
If you’re wondering what the primary source for the gaming market growth in 2022 is going to be, Newzoo firmly believes it will be the console market. In fact, despite ongoing supply chain constraints, console games will generate $56.9 billion in 2022, growing by 8.4% year per year. This growth is attributed to the release of games like Horizon Forbidden West, Growing new-gen install bases, Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus strategy, and the enthusiasm around live service games like Fortnite.
Meanwhile, the PC market is still expected to pull a substantial growth but not as significant. PC game revenues will grow slightly slower than console but will still show a +1.9% increase to $41.0 billion in 2022. Unfortunately, the PC market is constrained by the lack of high-profile first-party releases; No ecosystem dominating subscriptions, and less software related to new hardware.
Overall, it’s expected that the games market will grow in the following years, reaching $222.6 billion in 2024, a+5.6% CAGR (2020 to 2024). The future is bright, across mobile, PC, and console alike.
