EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON GLOBAL GAMING MARKET

The year of 2020, remembered by most of us as ‘Covid-19’s year’ took a toll on everything. It changed several aspects of lives, some in positive and others in a negative way. When looking at the global gaming market, it's vital to remember that 2020 was a very strong year for growth in both video and mobile gaming. COVID-19-related lockdown measures sparked a surge in gaming interest across all platforms and regions.

Global gaming market

The world of gaming has become so huge that the non-gaming folks probably won’t even know the different branches this market is divide into. For such people, we are going to briefly explain how far gaming industry goes.

• Video game industry
• PC gaming
• Console gaming
• Mobile gaming
• Online gaming (live stream)
• Gaming video content market
• E-sports gaming

Globally, there are more than 2.5 billion people who engage in gaming. With so many branches out there, the gaming industry is all set to reach $256.97 billion in the year 2025. The figures are expected to grow 9.17% more in the coming years.

China ranked #1 among the world's largest gaming markets in 2021, according to industry statistics. It had a revenue of 40.8 billion dollars at the end of the year. The United States was close behind, coming in second with annual revenues of 36.92 billion dollars.

With the release of PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X|S, it became the record growth of in a year. While the COVID-19 epidemic had a beneficial influence on Gaming growth market in the first half of 2020, the pandemic's negative impact followed in the other half. The delays in the game releasing affected not only the development, but the market as well. The negative impact of Covid-19 extends to hardware, as global chip shortages lead to a supply shortage for many consumer electronics, including next-generation consoles and high-end PC gaming components.

What Does the Future Hold for the Global Video Games Industry?

The games industry will continue to expand in the coming years, surpassing $200 billion by 2023. Between 2019 and 2023, it is expected that the games market will grow at a +7.2 percent CAGR to $204.6 billion.

Immersive gaming, also known as VR gaming, is around 20 times more intriguing than regular games, according to gaming industry figures for 2021. Companies like Bigscreen VR and AltspaceVR (two of the industry's big guns) are moving quicker than many people imagine into the future of virtual games.

Mobile Gaming industry

The popularity of mobile gaming has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2020, there were 2.69 billion mobile gaming players worldwide. Furthermore, mobile games accounted for the majority of App Store earnings (66 percent).

The mobile gaming applications and custom software development in Dallas in more than ever. The flux of consumers and people in demand of app development has doubled since 2020. Following is the list of popular mobile gaming types.

• AAA Mobile Gaming

The improved graphics, open-world gameplay, and monetization set this game apart from other smartphone games. Furthermore, the game's experience is identical on PC and consoles.

• Hyper-Casual Games

Hyper-casual titles have ruled the top rankings in 2020, according to SensorTower's Industry Trends analysis. Furthermore, the casual game Among Us was one of the most popular in the previous year. During the epidemic of 2020, it appears that many people turned to casual games. In addition, by 2020, hyper-casual games will have topped 10 billion installs. Probably because these games are simple to play and help individuals to relax and have fun during these difficult times.

• The Puzzle Game Genre

The puzzle game genre has undergone several developments in recent years. Adding different meta-layers to the main gameplay is the latest mobile game market trend, which has been embraced by all top match-3 puzzle games. The outcome of market saturation is this. Because it's difficult to stand out in the match-3 genre and beat off giants like Candy Crush, game creators are incorporating fresh and intriguing components into their creations.

• Subscription-Based Monetization

According to SensorTower's Industry Trends research, subscriptions have grown quite frequent among mobile games, especially among top-grossing games. We predict more games to offer subscriptions as a monetization model in the future, making this a noteworthy mobile gaming market trend.


Endnote

It's reasonable to state that the mobile gaming industry is thriving and will continue to do so in the future. It will be intriguing to watch what this year brings and how the mobile gaming market is shaped.