Newzoo has shared a report on the global gaming market in 2023. The gaming market will earn $187.7 billion in 2023. This is a 2.6% increase from last year, despite all the market’s problems. Newzoo believes that the gaming market has stabilized after the post-pandemic crisis. By 2026, its volume will reach $212.4 billion.

Revenue – platforms

  • Mobile still accounts for the majority of revenue ($92.6 billion), but the segment will only grow by 0.8% in 2023. Newzoo analysts believe the segment will see limited growth through at least 2026.
  • The console gaming segment grew the strongest in 2023, up 7.4% to $56.1 billion. Three things had an impact: delayed releases; multiple hits; and the rebuilding of next-gen console supply chains.
  • PC games grew 1.6% to $37.1 billion. Browser-based PC games continue to fall (-16.9% YoY) to $1.9 billion.
  • The number of paying cloud gamers will reach 43.1 million by the end of 2023. That number will increase to 80.4 million by 2025.

Regional results

Asia Pacific is the largest revenue region in the world. It accounts for 46% of all money ($85.8 billion – up 1.2% YoY). It is followed by North America (27% of market; $51.6 billion – up 3.8% YoY); Europe (18% of market; $34.4 billion – up 3.2% YoY); Latin America (5% of market; $8.8 billion – up 4.3%) and Middle East & North Africa (4% of market; $7.2 billion – up 6.9%).

Asia-Pacific is also the largest by number of players (53% of audience; $1.79 billion; growing at 5.7% YoY in 2023). This is followed by the Middle East and North Africa (17% of audience; 574 million; +12.3% YoY); Europe (13% of audience; 447 million; +3.6% YoY); Latin America (10% of audience; 335 million; +6.1% YoY) and North America (7% of audience; 237 million; +2.4% YoY).

Global gaming audience

  • The number of players in the world will grow by 6.3% YoY to reach 3.38 billion. By 2026, the number will reach 3.79 billion.
  • 84.4% of this number plays on mobile devices; 26.3% on PC; 18.6% on consoles.
  • The number of paying users will grow by 7.3% to 1.47 billion. By the end of 2026, this number will increase to 1.66 billion (+4.7% CAGR).

Companies

Tencent ($7.56 billion), Sony ($4.38 billion) and Apple ($3.68 billion) are the leaders in gaming revenue among publicly traded companies.

Transmedia

Transmedia releases have a positive impact on game MAUs. In a number of cases that Newzoo reviewed, MAU grew by up to 40% at the peak. After stabilization, MAU growth was around 33-38%.

Trends

  • Service-based games are booming on PC and consoles. Competition for users’ time is fierce.
  • AI is coming to the industry. So far its influence on the final product and production processes is weak, but almost all players on the market are sure that the use of AI will grow.
  • “Complementary” consoles – like Steam Deck – are very much favored by users.
  • Mobile developers have to find new ways to make money because of the tightening platform policies. One way out is PC and consoles.
  • UGC and the creative economy continue to evolve. Influencers are becoming more influential – and they are already opening their own game studios.
  • The VR/AR market is poised for strong development, following the announcement of Apple Vision Pro.
  • Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing country in the gaming industry.

Read the full report here

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