Since the early 1970s, when home gaming consoles and one of the first computer games, Pong, was released, the gaming industry has come a long way. Today, the most recent games as well as gaming platforms don’t only offer realistic graphics but also the ability to connect with millions of other players online. Playing video games according to apple pay casino Australia has become more than just a hobby. It has turned into a lifestyle for many.
The global market for video games is huge. In 2021, the total revenues of this industry expanded to $180.3 billion. It’s 1.4% more from 2020 when the industry was growing by leaps and bounds due to the global pandemic. If the growth is consistent, the global market revenues may reach $500 billions by 2030.
Where gamers prefer to play 🎰
There are many gaming platforms to choose from. Thus, the way gamers play has expanded beyond video game consoles and gaming PCs. Let’s take a look at the statistics around console gaming, PC gaming, mobile and cloud gaming.
Console & PC Video Games 🎮
Many gamers still utilize their consoles like Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. And it’s not surprising! They spent a lot of time at home during the first wave of the pandemic. Thatcaused the increase of numbers of console gamers and users of other gaming devices. Although Sony PlayStation consoles dominate in sales in comparison to Microsoft, Nintendo’s consoles have more global sales than both Sony and Microsoft. Time will tell if Microsoft can manage to lure loyal PlayStation fans over to Xbox.
In 2021, Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo lifetime console sales looked like this:
1. PlayStation 4 – 116,5 million units
2. Nintendo Switch – 91,4 million units
3. 3DS – 75,9 million units
4. XBOX One – 50,4 million units
5. PlayStation 5 – 12,2 million units
Nevertheless, the PC remains the most popular platform for developers. They also express interest in the PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch. The developers are mostly interested in the respective platforms for developing new titles.
Mobile Video Games 📱
Mobile phones have become the most used devices for gaming globally. Fewer gamers prefer tablets. For instance, gaming platform Zynga has 38 million daily active users via mobile phones in the third quarter of 2021. Mobile games are even available at online casino ratings.
Some experts foresee that the worldwide mobile gaming market will grow to $272 billion by 2030. Doesn’t it make mobile gaming the fastest growing platform to date? As mobile games are easily accessible from smartphones while on the go, the demographics are also highly diverse.
The cloud gaming market is also on the rise. Valued at $470 million in 2020, it is expected to reach $7.24 billion in 2027. The thing is that cloud gaming allows players to access games via remote servers rather than installing them on PCs. This rise in popularity has become possible due to Internet access, game accessibility in the cloud, and high-speed network infrastructures.
In 2021, Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo lifetime console sales looked like this:
1. PlayStation 4 – 116,5 million units
2. Nintendo Switch – 91,4 million units
3. 3DS – 75,9 million units
4. XBOX One – 50,4 million units
5. PlayStation 5 – 12,2 million units
How Gaming Shaped Last Years 🚀
The video game industry remained sustainable during the pandemic in 2020. Sales of video games, hardware, and accessories increased because of lockdowns.
Although sales were high, there were still some negative impacts of the pandemic on the industry. For instance, some major trade events were canceled or postponed.
Actually, trade events are a convenient platform for major studios and hardware manufacturers. They used to make big announcements there regarding the latest models of consoles or new titles that should be released. Additionally, some indie video game creators use these events to meet with potential partners and gain financial and publishing support from them.
Hardware production issues caused by the pandemic also took their toll on shaping the video game industry. The Nintendo Switch suffered from major supply chain issues as a result of both quarantines and lockdowns.
Sony is still experiencing the knock-on effect of the pandemic, specifically with the PlayStation 5. The company recently warned analysts that the PlayStation 5 remains in short supply in 2022 as well. It mostly happens due to shortages in components, like semiconductors. The gaming industry has become a large arena. At the same time, some data it applies to developers isn’t absolutely universal. Just look how the pandemic affected the gaming marketoverall! While the whole industry saw benefits, it doesn’t reflect the impacts that AAA gaming studios and indie developers felt. Big-budget games experienced delays in terms of development; behemoth franchises have continuous push backs in the release dates of their latest versions. However, small studios got more opportunities.
Gaming Trends and Stats 2022 🕵
However, most gamers that play first-person combat-style games on devices like a PC or Xbox are still young and male. The survey completed in 2020 identifies “hard-core” gamers. They’re people who spend more than 20 hours a week playing consoles. 77% of respondents over the age of 18 were identified as male, and 23% were identified as female. The majority of the hardcore gamers (65%) were 18 – 45 ages.
It’s expected to be 180 million gamers monthly this year only in the US. It means that more than a half of the population of the country will be identified as digital gamers by the end of 2022. While the number of gamers is rising, the number of viewers is increasing as well.
Game Streaming Viewership Trends 👇
The lack of social interaction in 2020 increased the demand for game streaming. Actually, game streaming allows consumers to communicate with gaming influencers and other gaming video content viewers.
And that’s where Twitch is beyond comparison! Twitch was the most dominant platform for gaming video content worldwide in Q4 2020, with 66% of total hours watched. By comparison, YouTube had 23% for Gaming and Facebook had 11% for Gaming.
Esports Viewership Trends ⚽
Esports is a subset of gaming video content. It is defined as organized gaming competitions among professional players and teams. While in-person sporting events were delayed for a long period of time due to the pandemic, esports continued with online tournaments. That allowed it to gain media coverage and viewers.
Overall, there will be around 30 million US esports viewers monthly in 2022. It’s more than a half of all gaming video content viewers.
Video Gaming Industry Forecast for 2022 🌞
The gaming market revenue is impressive due to the massive bump in monthly digital gamers. In 2021, consumers spent the whole $44 billion in gaming software and services. But like it or not, such growth can’t last for too long. Monthly digital gamers are expected to increase by just 1% in 2022.
With about a half of the US population already being monthly gamers, the room for further growth is limited. Much of the audience that gaming captured amid the pandemic may lose interest once more social distancing restrictions will be canceled.
The only element of gaming that will remain unchanged in 2022 is the ability to provide social interaction in a virtual way. The ability to connect with other gamers during the pandemic elevated social aspects of gaming across all devices, especially mobile ones.
While interest in connecting with people through video games may go down as the pandemic subsides, we expect the social element of gaming to continue to attract a good number of people to this system through 2022 and beyond.
NFTs and blockchain ₿
Several biggest creators of games announced intentions to build NFT into their games. It’s a way of letting players win, earn and trade unique in-game items. Most likely that in 2022 we will see some of these plans come to fruition.
The idea isn’t new. Many gamers consider these tokens a wasteful use of energy. This is due to a huge processing power that’s necessary to carry out the blockchain algorithms. However, it’s likely to become a fact of life.
Another growing trend can be witnessed in the explosion of “play-to-earn” games. These games reward players with cryptocurrencies for taking part in daily play. Some earnings may be around $250 per day. This is a pretty decent income, isn’t it?
Conclusion 🎲
Between more Internet accessibility than ever before, the development of advanced video game technologies, and increased popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the video game industry remains stronger and more diverse than any other. As we are talking about the future of the industry, we don’t expect that the end of the pandemic will slow things down. After all, 90% of gamers said they are likely to continue playing video games even after social distancing is no longer a necessity.
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