Video Game Industry Statistics In 2020
The Video Gaming Industry is now estimated to be worth $159.3 Billion in 2020, which is a sizeable increase of 9.3% from 2019. This is a marked difference in what was predicted for the industry with 2016 statistics forecasting a total worth of $90.07 Billion for the same period – a huge 76.8% difference between the two figures. Current forecasts estimate the video gaming industry to be worth $200 Billion by 2023.
The biggest areas of growth are in Latin America and APAC which are expected to grow by 10.3% and 9.9% respectively when compared to 2019’s revenue figures. APAC is expected to be worth approximately $78 Billion in 2020 with China expected to contribute $40.9 Billion of consumer spending on gaming and the USA just under that with $36.9 Billion.
Sources: Statista, NewZoo
Asia Pacific reached a revenue of
Asia Pacific reached a revenue of 72.2billion U.S. dollars, making them the largest gaming market in 2019
Tencent made
By investing heavily in game companies, Tencent made the most revenue from games with a revenue of $19.7 billion in 2018. Riot, Activision, and Blizzard are among the key investments they made
More than
More than 85% of total video game industry revenue comes from free-to-play games
The video games market is worth
The video games market is worth $159.3 billion in 2020, up from $152.1 billion in 2019
There are more than
There are more than 2.7 billion video gamers from all over the world
Asia Pacific is home to
Asia Pacific is home to 48% of the video gaming market share
Regions
APAC continues to hold the majority share of the video game industry revenue, accounting for 48% of the market in 2020, with North America holding second place with a much lower share of 19%. In terms of individual countries, China is leading the way, followed closely by the USA. Japan comes in at a respectable third place, and then numbers drop dramatically as South Korea, Germany, and the UK follow up.
Sources: NewZoo, Statista, RList
2020 Value of Global Games Market by Region
- Western Europe had the highest year-on-year growth rate from 2018-2019 with a growth rate of 12.3%
- Asia Pacific is home to 48% of the video gaming market share
- The United States covers 19% of the global gaming market share
Gaming Industry Revenue Share
- Gaming is the most lucrative entertainment industry by far, worth $145.7b in 2019, compared to $42.5b in Box Office earnings and $20.2b for Music.
- In 2017, there were 2.21 billion gamers worldwide
- As at August 2020 there are an estimated 3.1 billion people consuming video games, representing around 40% of the population of the planet
DLC market
Over the last decade, we have seen a clear upwards trend in sales of DLC in video games. In fact, the DLC market value increased by 121% between 2010 – 2017, and this trend is predicted to continue to rise. This has been further illustrated with the ongoing rise of gamers putting money into microtransactions, with almost 50% of gamers having done this in the last year. As the DLC market share rises, the package market falls alongside it; in 2011 it took a solid 80% of market share, falling to just 46% in 2017 and continuing to fall ever since.
Sources: Capcom, The ESA, Statista
The packaged market value in 2018 amounted to 10.9 billion U.S. dollars, down from 11.2 billion a year earlier. While the DLC Market forecasted to be worth $28.9 Billion by 2021
- In 2018, the consumer (package + digital) market picked up, increasing to $29.9 billion (up 22.5% from 2017)
- 80% of the total digital games revenue came from free-to-play games in 2018
- More than 85% of total video game industry revenue comes from free-to-play games
- Almost 50% of gamers have made at least one microtransaction in the past year
- It is predicted that in 2020 $159.3 Billion will be spent on Games in 2020 and that the Market Will Surpass $200 Billion by 2023.
- The package market took 80% of the market share in 2011 and decreased to 46% in 2017. (Capcom Annual Report, page 44, 2017)
- The DLC market took 20% of the market share in 2011 and increased to 54% in 2017. (Capcom Annual Report, page 44, 2017)
- The DLC market value increased by 121% in 7 years. (Capcom Annual Report, page 44, 2017)
- A 12.5% increase in PC and console additional game content revenue is expected in 2018 from 2015. (Digital River, 2017)
Platforms
PC is still the most popular platform for game developers with 56% developing games for the platform in 2020. When it comes to consoles, Sony is still managing to beat Microsoft in terms of game development focus with 25% of developers focusing on the PS4 over 23% on the Xbox One. This trend continues when we look at next-gen consoles with 11% working on PS5 games over 9% working on Xbox Series X. Despite PC gaming coming top for developers, Mobile gaming is the most popular platform for users with 48% of players now regularly engaging in mobile gaming, and console gaming outperforming PC gaming in terms of the global games market.
Sources: NewZoo, GDC
- Mobile gaming now has the biggest share of the market with 48% of players engaging in mobile gaming
- Console gaming just outperforms PC gaming in the global games market with console taking 28% of market share and PC gaming taking 23%
- By 2022 the global game market will reach $196 billion, while the mobile gaming market will rise to $95.4 billion
- Sony Playstation has the highest percentage of the console gaming market with a share of 63.39%
- Female gamers are more likely to play games on mobile and tablet devices, whereas male gamers are more likely to play on computers and consoles
- People prefer to download a game (63.6%) rather than buy a physical copy (26%) globally
Which platforms are game developers developing games for?
- When US gamers were asked which platform they preferred for gaming, it was found that 61% used their Smartphone, 52% used a dedicated console, and 49% took part in PC gaming
- Microsoft’s recent acquisition of ZeniMax was the second largest video games sector acquisition of all time
- Smartphones and tablets are taking over the global games market, taking up 34% of the global games market share in 2015. (NewZoo, 2018)
Best Games
If you’re looking for the best game ever made, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still holds the title according to Metacritic having achieved a near-perfect score of 99/100, although 2020 did give it a run for its money. With a 95/100, Persona 5 Royal took the best game of 2020 title.
When we look at a genre breakdown of video game sales, we can see that Action games hold the top spot with a 26.9% market share followed by Shooters at 20.9%, and Role-playing games at 11.3%.
When it comes to the best-selling games of all time, the Pokemon franchise is still ruling the charts with an impressive total sales figure in excess of $90 Billion. Everyone’s favorite plumber comes in second with a much lower $30.25 Billion followed by Call of Duty with $17 Billion.
Sources: TitleMax,Statista, ESA, Metacriti
- With a 99/100 Metacritic score according to critics, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best game ever
- With a 95/100 Metacritic score, Persona 5 Royal is the best game of 2020 overall, and with 93/100 Half-Life: Alyx is the best PC game of 2020
- Fate/ Grand Order was the most talked about game on Twitter in 2019 with over 1.2 billion tweets mentioning the title
- 26.9% of video games sold in the US in 2018 were Action games
- PUBG is the most played game on Steam with over 1 million players in 2019
- League of Legends is the most-watched game on Twitch
- Fortnite is the most-streamed game on Twitch
Biggest selling video game franchises of all time
Genre breakdown of video game sales in the US (2018)
- It is predicted that players will spend $4.5 billion on VR games by the end of 2020.
