There are 3.2 billion gamers in the world. In 2022, they will spend $184.4 billion on games
According to a report by the analytical company Newzoo there are 3.2 billion gamers in the world (almost half of the Earth’s population!), and the volume of the gaming market in 2022 will be $184.4 billion. Interestingly, this is less than in 2021 by -4.3% and this is the first drop in the last 15 years.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to such a decline. First, in 2020-21, it was the one that caused significant growth in the market, which fell after the easing of restrictions and the return of other leisure activities, such as trips to the cinema or to concerts. Second, COVID-19 and related restrictions, including the shift to remote work, have resulted in a slowdown in new game development, total postponement of releases, and more.
It is interesting that almost 50% of revenue in the game market – $92.2 billion is brought by mobile games. Console games are in second place – $51.8 billion, PC games are in third place – $38.2 billion. On the other hand, the PC market segment is the only one that grew in 2022 by +1.8%.
If we look at the regional markets, the most powerful is the Asia-Pacific market, which brought almost 49% of the revenue. Separately, it should be noted that China has already overtaken the USA in terms of market volume – $45.8 billion in the PRC compared to $45 billion in the USA. The second most important market is North America, mostly thanks to the USA – $48.8 billion. The third, as always recently, is Europe – $32.9 billion. Latin America, the Middle East and Africa in general account for only 9% of revenue.
As for further predictions, Newzoo believes that the gaming market will continue to grow and reach $211.2 billion by 2025. The cumulative average annual growth rate will be +3.4%.