It’s been a tough year for many parts of the entertainment sector, but not for video games, which have thrived as people have been forced to stay home and interact online.
In its Global Games Market Report, updated quarterly, analytics firm Newzoo estimates that the global games market will grow nearly 20 percent to almost $175 billion in 2020. That beats the firm’s previous forecast, which was made early in the pandemic, by $15.6 billion. By 2023, Newzoo estimates the game market will grow to nearly $218 billion, up from an earlier prediction of just over $200 billion.
The world’s two biggest game markets remain China and the U.S., collectively representing almost half of the world’s consumer-generated game revenues, the report said. Europe is third with almost $33 billion in revenue with Latin America and the Middle East and Africa both far behind at about $7 billion and $6 billion each, respectively.
Like so many other things this year, the pandemic has accelerated trends in this market, including socializing remotely across gaming platforms, such as Fortnite, Among Us and Fall Guys. As an illustration of the growing power of these platforms, earlier this year Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) appeared on a Twitch livestream to play Among Us with influencers and garnered some 439,000 concurrent views and more than five million total views.
The gaming segment is divided across several platforms, according to the report. Mobile gaming is the largest segment, with Newzoo expecting it to generate $86.3 billion in 2020. Console games—such as Sony Playstation 5, which is coming out over the next two weeks—is the next largest segment, with Newzoo expecting it to generate $51.2 billion in sales in 2020. Console games are also the fastest-growing segment, with revenues expected to grow more than 20 percent this year, which is more than double the growth Newzoo had previously forecast. PC games are third, with the expectation that they will generate $37.4 billion this year.
READ MORE: The Wrap
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