A report by Newszoo indicates that there are about 756 million gamers in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. This is about 28% of the total gamers population in the world.
Over the last few months, the number of gamers has been in the increase due to the shelter in place caused by the pandemic.
The data released pegged the total number of gamers globally at 2.7 billion as of April 2020. This was a 6.4% year-on-year increase representing about 35% of the world’s population.
Compared to other regions, the EMEA region was the first runner-up following the Asia Pacific region who led with about 1.506 billion gamers, representing more than half of the total gaming population.
Data suggests that a third of human beings in the world are gamers
Latin America was the second runner-up with 259 million gamers. This makes up about 9% of the total gamers population. North America comes last with 203 million gamers or 7% of the gaming population.
Over $159.3 billion revenue to be generated in 2020
A previous report forecast that 2020’s global games market will generate revenues of about $159.3 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 9.3%. Mobile gaming accounted for about 48% of the total revenue making the highest contributor with a revenue of about $77.2 billion.
For mobile games, smartphone gamers accounted for the highest revenue with about 40% of the global revenue at $63.6 billion. Tablet gamers will, however, spend $13.7 billion accounting for just 9% of the entire revenue generated in 2020.
After mobile, Game consoles like PlayStation contributed about $45.2 billion of the total revenue in 2020. This is 28% of the globally tally, making it the second-highest contributor.
PC games will contribute about $36.9 billion, which will account for 23% of the global revenue. PC and downloaded games will contribute about $33.9 billion of total revenue while PC browser games will generate approximately $3.08 billion in 2020.
The report attributed the increased interest rate in gaming to the COVID-19-related lockdown measures. It also highlighted the looming launch of next-generation consoles like PS5 toward the end of the year as a key contributing factor to the forecasted numbers.
COVID-19 contribution to gaming boom
All segments of gaming enjoyed an increase in engagement and revenue due to COVID-19. This is because gaming is among the suitable alternative available with cinemas closed.
Mobile gaming saw the biggest increase in engagements this is because many mobile games are free to play and it generally has the lowest barrier to entry.
More than two-fifths of the global population owns a smartphone, so it will be easier for people to easily download a game and start playing
Sub-Sharan Africa’s fast Smartphone growth to drive mobile gaming
Mobile gaming due to fast smartphones growth in emerging markets is expected to lead the gaming boom. According to the report, Sub-Saharan Africa will see the fastest growth in the number of smartphone users, due to smartphones becoming more affordable.
The global number of smartphone users will continue to grow, reaching 4.1 billion in 2023.
Also, the local breakthroughs in mobile Internet are expected to play a key role in the growth. Globally, the insight recognised the considerable effect 5G infrastructure is playing in the growth of gaming.
However, it noted the major effect that COVID-19 will have on the rollout of 5G technology globally.
Over 200 billion by 2023
Over the next couple of years, the report forecasts that the games market will continue to grow and will exceed $200 billion by 2023.
The growth is expected to be driven by the new generation of consoles, advancement in new technology suitable for gamers and a steady revenue growth every year.
It, however, noted that mobile gaming will remain the fastest-growing segment in the games business, with revenues and user engagement alike continuing their strong growth trajectories in coming years.