How big is the games industry? Bigger than ever, according to games market analytics expert Newzoo, which reports that games industry revenue continues to grow through 2022 and is set to reach a record $203.1 billion USD generated via consumer spending by the end of the year. That number is up from an estimated $192.7 billion generated in 2021. Newzoo says that global player numbers are also on course for a record, with an expected total of 3.09 billion people playing games by the end of this year.
This year will be the first time that games market revenue has passed the $200 billion mark. The total value is a little lower than the $230 billion originally predicted by Digi-Capital’s 2018 games industry revenue forecast, but, given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, this record level of growth will still be very positive news for industry figures.
Console games are the biggest growth driver in 2022, but PC game revenues are also set to grow, with a +1.9% increase expected. This will result in $41 billion in revenue for the PC market, with established live-service titles contributing heavily alongside new games including Elden Ring and the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. Newzoo states that this lower growth is to be expected due to the impact of new system hardware sales contributing to console growth, which outstrips the number of new GPUs and other PC components being sold.
Browser games are expected to decline as players move to mobile, especially as more people return to commuting and working in offices around the world. However, downloaded and boxed PC game revenues are set to grow +3.2% year on year to reach a value of $38.7 billion. Newzoo says that this growth is much higher in Europe, which has a stronger PC presence and is expected to see a +6.3% rise.
Conversely, China’s PC market has declined slightly from last year. This trend is expected to continue into 2024, with the blame placed squarely on the Chinese government’s crackdown on gaming including regulations limiting minors to three hours of online gaming per week. Games industry revenue in China is projected to be overtaken by that of the US market this year, although both are expected to see total revenues pass the $50 billion mark in 2022.
Newzoo says it expects this growth to continue into 2024, with a projected $222.6 billion in revenue predicted thanks to the expansion of subscription services alongside full-priced releases. It also notes the trend of companies traditionally focused on PC and console gaming expanding their reach to mobile with games including Apex Legends and Diablo Immortal.
How big is the games industry?
The game industry’s global revenue is set to reach $203.1 billion USD (from consumer spending) by the end of 2022, according to a new report by analysts Newzoo. You can read the full report here.