Cape Town - As the Covid-19 lockdowns forced millions of people around the world inside their homes, the gaming industry's global revenue is growing at 8.3% annually.
According to a new infographic from Kryptoszene.de, worldwide revenues are forecast to increase from $164.6 billion to $178.2 billion US in 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic is spurring an already strong upward trend. German gamers have been spending around €24 (about R450) a month on games and additional content since the pandemic began.
This is a huge increase from prior to the crisis, when the average was €15 (about R280), representing an increase of around 60%. 16 to 29-year-olds are the most inclined to spend money.
According to data presented by SafeBettingSites.com, five top-grossing Google Play games hit $316 million in revenue in September. With $113.9 million profit among Android users, Lineage M represents the leading mobile game in the Google Play store last month.
The gaming industry itself is changing as playing on smartphones has become popular in the Covid-19 era. About 40% of revenues are now generated through smartphone games, compared to a 35% share in 2018. PC games, on the other hand, are declining in popularity, with a share of revenues within the industry falling from 25% to 21% over the period.
"The gaming industry is proving to be both high-growth and a crisis-resistant sector" said Kryptoszene analyst Raphael Lulay. "The rapid growth in the field of mobile games in particular could make investors sit up and pay attention”.
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