The global gaming population continues to grow powered by factors like innovations and the emergence of new technology suitable for gamers. Data acquired by Finbold.com indicates that currently there are 2.7 billion gamers globally representing 35 percent of the world population as of April 2020.
The gamers are distributed in different parts of the world with the Asia Pacific region leading with 1.506 billion people accounting for 55% of the entire gaming population. Notability the Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing in terms of new gamers. In the second spot, there is Europe, the Middle East, and Africa with 758 million people being gamers as of April 2020.
Latin America comes third with 259 million gamers. This number accounts for 9% of the global gaming population. North America comes last with 203 million gamers or 7% of the gaming population. Based on the data, it suggests that a third of human beings represent potential gamers globally.
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Our research also overviewed the estimated revenue from the gaming industry based on devices. In 2020, the gaming sector is set to generate $159.3 billion in revenue with mobile accounting for 48% at $77.2 billion. Under mobile games revenue, gamers on tablets will spend $13.7 billion accounting for 9% of the entire revenue generated in 2020. On the other hand smartphone games whose revenue is projected to stand at $63.6 billion accounts for 40% of the global revenue from the gaming sector.
Game consoles like PlayStation series are set to generate the second-highest revenue in 2020 at $45.2 billion or 28% of the global tally. PC games will account for 23% of the global revenue cumulatively at $36.9 billion. Under PC games boxed and downloaded games will attract $33.9 billion or 21% of the total revenue while browser PC gamers will spend approximately $3.08 billion or 9% of the total revenue to be generated in 2020.
COVID-19 contributes to gaming explosion
The estimated revenue from 2020’s gaming sector is high considering that with the coronavirus pandemic, gaming has offered an escape route for those in lockdown. Home entertainment is among the few available options while in lockdown as cinemas and theaters remain closed. This scenario gives gaming a higher priority.
For example, video live streaming service Twitch added 3.46 million new streamers representing a growth of 87.81% between January and May this year. The growth was directly attributed to the pandemic.
The growing gaming population and revenue can also be linked to the emergence of cloud gaming. With cloud technology, cloud gaming is now a reality. Under cloud gaming, the server, where all the games are stored, does all the computation work, like game scene rendering, game logic processing video encoding, and video streaming.
Competition and smartphones to drive gaming explosion
The high forecast in revenue will also be driven by the competitive edge among the big players in the gaming sector. For example, Microsoft will launch ‘Scarlet Nexus’ in Xbox Series X, by the end of 2020. The game is expected to support the key technical features of the Xbox Series X like real-time ray tracing and super-fast loading times.
At the same time, Sony launched the first look of the DualSense wireless controller that comes alongside Playstation 5. The features of DualSense, along with PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, will deliver a new feeling of immersion to players. DualSense also adds a built-in microphone array, which will enable players to chat with friends without a headset easily.
The mobile gaming under smartphones is also expected to lead the gaming explosion. The penetration of smartphones alongside investment in the 5G infrastructure is playing a key role in this success. Notably, smartphones support casual games and hyper-casual genres of games that are quick to download, easy to play, and lend themselves to being played in short sessions throughout the day. These games are accessible by almost every person in the society.
