This year, the total number of gamers worldwide grew by 2.7 billion according to analyst group, New Zoo. With that many gamers, the gaming industry was also able to generate 159.3 billion US dollars this year and this is still expected to grow in the next few years. Mordor Intelligence estimates that the industry will be worth 256.97 billion US dollars by 2025.
According to NPD, not only kids or children have been gaming in the last few months. Since the pandemic started, even people in their 30s have also started gaming. For adults aged 45 to 54, the time they spent on gaming has increased by 59 percent in the last year. The money they spent on gaming has also increased by 76 percent.
For the people who are aged 55 to 64, the time they spent on gaming rose to 48 percent. Meanwhile, the money they spent increased by 73 percent. Even people aged 65 and above were also reported to have been gaming as well. The time they spent on this was up by 45 percent and the money they spent by 29 percent.
NPD reported that the increase was consistent on all gaming platforms including online casino gaming. Indeed, online casinos have reported an increase in their traffic since the pandemic started. Playing real money games have helped many adults deal with the crisis we’re facing. If you’re looking to play the best casino games, you can easily check casino review sites for more info.
NPD explains that mobile gaming appears to be more popular to many of the gamers. The company said, “Growth is particularly strong on mobile, which is likely to be the most accessible platform to a wide audience of consumers. Consoles also saw notable increases, driven by families seeking options for group play and by those seeking options for online play.”
NPD did survey 5,000 people and they found that 79 percent of the US consumers have played video games in the last six months. That is an increase of 6 percent compared to their poll last year. Overall, the total time that people spent on gaming increased by 26 percent and the total money spent was up by 33 percent.
New Zoo said that gaming appears to be a readily-accessible “escapism” to many this year and this is mainly why the company believes that the gaming industry, particularly the mobile gaming sector, will continue to grow in the next few years.
Mordor Intelligence also found that 29 percent of the gamers in the US are spending more time on gaming to be able to connect with friends during the lockdowns and quarantine periods.
Now that people are starting to adapt to the new normal, how will this affect the gaming industry? NPD said that it is possible that the pandemic has accelerated the gaming trends for adults this year. The company’s analyst, mat Piscatella has this to say in a statement:
“…The gaming market could experience continued growth without a post-pandemic pullback. If not, however, we may see a post-pandemic valley before returning to growth. It all rests on engagement.”
Aside from the pandemic, there are still a few other factors that may have affected the rapid growth of the gaming industry this year. Cloud gaming, 5G internet, and the growth of esports al may have affected the interest of people towards gaming.
Cloud gaming enables more people to play high-quality games without having to purchase gaming consoles. However, cloud gaming can only be successful if the internet connection is strong. This is why the spread of the 5G connection also helps gaming companies get a wider reach.
The steady rise of mobile users is also helping the growth of the gaming community. Mobile games are usually free-to-start games and this makes people more interested and willing to play games. Currently, there are already around 4 billion smartphone users and gaming companies are now shifting their focus on the mobile community.
Many popular game franchises have already released mobile versions of the well-loved PC and gaming console games like The Sims, Call of Duty, PUBG, League of Legends, FIFA, and the NBA. The number of mobile users worldwide is still expected to grow in the next few years and this could only mean that more people may be interested in gaming.
With that, gaming companies are already preparing to meet the demands of mobile users. According to statistics, the mobile gaming sector already holds 48 percent of the gaming industry’s revenue. It is possible that this number will go up in the next few years.
