Global gaming revenue expected to match that of sports in 2017

With gaming revenue already dwarfing the film industry, itself reporting $38 billion in ticket sales during the 2016 calendar year according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), it was only a matter of time until it matched that of sports. According to a new report by Newzoo (Paid), gaming has surged to an estimated $149 billion in global revenue.

Predominantly driven by the Chinese and Japanese markets, gaming jumped by a significant margin against the $108 billion reported in the previous financial year. The aforementioned markets contributed an estimated $33 billion, and $14 billion respectively. The largest share of this revenue comes from mobile, which stands at an estimated $50 billion and will continue to grow until it is expected to encompass half of all revenue generated by 2020. The PC space has seen spectacular growth as well, with its estimated revenue being adjusted upwards from $29 billion to $32 billion.

In the console market, things aren't as rosy as with the other two platforms, but it is still expected to grow by 3.7%, contributing an estimated $33 billion. Newzoo noted in its report that by 2020 the disparity between the gaming market and other forms of entertainment will become even more pronounced:

"The coming two years will be crucial to how fast it grows into a multi-billion-dollar business. The key determining factors are the success of local leagues and the franchising approach, the implementation of regulations, the arrival of new game formats and competition, the uptake of content rights sales, team profitability, and the impact of industry convergence involving traditional media, entertainment, telecom, and sports companies."

A recent SuperData report pointed out some interesting information surrounding micro-transactions and the revenue generated by them. It estimated that gamers will spend $25 billion on these in-game transactions alone by 2022. However, with the recent outrage surrounding the implementation of this additional paid content in games such as Star Wars: Battlefront II, not to mention subsequent calls from governments to regulate this market, it remains to be seen just how successful they will be.

Source: GameIndustry.biz

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